May Chow is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-born

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

chef, who runs restaurants in

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. She was named Asia's Best Female Chef in 2017, and has used this as a platform to promote

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

issues and help women find work in professional kitchens.

Career

May Chow was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. She was interested in cooking from an early age, helping her mother in the kitchen. She had wanted to take up horse riding or ceramics, but her parents were reluctant and so she used cooking as a creative outlet. Chow attended

Suffield Academy Suffield Academy is a private preparatory school located in Suffield, Connecticut. It was founded in 1833 to train young men for ministry in the Baptist Church. The tuition fees for students are currently $71,500 for boarding students and $49, ...

Suffield, Connecticut Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, and located in the Connecticut River Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

, but when she suggested that she wanted to go to culinary school, her college councillor rebuked her and told her to choose from a provided list of schools. Chow attended

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, where she studied hotel management. As part of the third year, she undertook cooking classes offered by local chefs. While at University, she worked part-time as a chef, which she concealed from her parents. After graduation, she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where she worked alongside the private chef for director

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

. Chow travelled to

in 2009, and was hired at Alvin Leung's

Bo Innovation Bo or BO may refer to Arts and entertainment *Box office, where tickets to an event are sold, and by extension, the amount of business a production receives *'' BA:BO'', 2008 South Korean film * ''Bo'' (film), a Belgian film starring Ella-June ...

where she worked for a year. Afterwards she worked with Que Vinh Dang at TBLS, which has since been closed, as a private chef, and at Yardbird with Matt Abergel. Chow first showed her signature mini-

bao Bao or BAO may refer to: Cuisine * Baozi, a type of Chinese dumpling made of a steamed or baked bun with fillings * Cha siu bao, a pork-filled steamed bun * Gua bao, steamed clam-shaped bun sandwiched with meat and condiments * Bánh bao, Vietname ...

buns at an Island East Market in Hong Kong in 2012. Abergel suggested that she make them look like burgers, and supported her endeavour. She sold out her buns repeatedly at the

farmer's market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

, and opened a permanent store ''Little Bao'' in 2013. A second location opened in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

in 2017, along with a beer bar in

Tai Hang Tai Hang () is an area southeast of Causeway Bay located in the mid-north of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is home to many luxurious private apartments. Residents are predominantly more affluent Hong Kong locals and expatriate professiona ...

, Hong Kong, called Second Draft. In 2017, she was named the Best Female Chef by

Asia's 50 Best Restaurants The World's 50 Best Restaurants is a list produced by the UK media company William Reed, which originally appeared in the British magazine ''Restaurant'' in 2002. The list and awards are no longer directly related to ''Restaurant'', though th ...

. She was contacted late in 2016 and told that she had won, in order to find out if she would accept or decline. Chow considered declining because of the responsibility that came with it, but decided to accept instead. She has used her local fame to focus on campaigning for

issues, and to provide more opportunities for women in professional kitchens. She has also worked on a new Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong, called Happy Paradise. She has appeared on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

series '' Inspired with Anna Olson''.

References

External links

Happy Paradise website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chow, May Living people Chefs from Toronto Boston University alumni Canadian women chefs Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian restaurateurs