Pailin Chongchitnant with J. Kenji López-Alt

Growing up in Thailand, Pailin “Pai” Chongchitnant spent her childhood with the kitchen as her playground. From a young age, she would linger by the stove, taking in the sight of snowy white coconut being shredded, the smell of lemongrass-infused soups, and the sound of the pestle pounding against the granite mortar. Both a definitive resource and an extraordinary explorer of Thai cuisine, Chongchitnant delights and inspires readers on their Thai cooking journey.

Years later, as a Cordon Bleu–educated chef in San Francisco, Pailin vividly remembered the culinary experiences of her youth. And so, on YouTube, Pailin’s Kitchen was born. Combining her love of teaching with her devotion to Thai food, Pailin immediately connected with thousands of fans who wanted a friend and educator.

J. Kenji López-Alt, the director of this year’s Community Curated Series, is an American chef and food writer. His first book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, became a critical and commercial success, charting on the New York Times Bestseller list and winning the 2016 James Beard Foundation Award for the best General Cooking cookbook. In 2023, he won his second James Beard Foundation Award for the Single Subject category for The Wok: Recipes and Techniques, his definitive guide to the science and technique of cooking in a wok.

Presented by Seattle Arts & Lectures. For questions about this event, please contact the organizers at grajendran@lectures.org or call (206) 621-2230.