Thai Dang

Chef Thai Dang

Thai Dang is executive chef of HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen and Crying Tiger in Chicago.[1]

His West Loop, Chicago restaurant Embeya was an Esquire magazine best new restaurant winner.[2] Embeya closed in 2015 after his business partner committed a $300,000 embezzlement and fled the country to Spain.[3][4] In 2020 a federal judge sentenced Attila Gyulai to three years of probation after he pled guilty to wire fraud following his arrest and extradition from Spain.[5][6]

Dang's next restaurant HaiSous opened in 2017 in Pilsen, Chicago,[7] and reached the semi-final for the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. In 2022, Dang’s restaurants Dang Good Wings and Cà Phê Đá opened on campus at the University of Chicago.[8] In 2024 Dang continued collaborating with Black Sheep Restaurants in Hong Kong at their Vietnamese concepts Le Garçon Saigon and Chôm Chôm.[9] Dang was a finalist for best chef Great Lakes at the 2025 James Beard Awards.[10][11][12][13][14] In October 2025 Peter Cincotti and Chef Thai Dang co-hosted Paul Stuart's anniversary party celebrating 30 years in Chicago.[15]

Mural at Crying Tiger restaurant in Chicago

Crying Tiger in River North on Hubbard Street is Dang’s first restaurant concept with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises.[16][17] Robb Report named Crying Tiger among the most anticipated restaurants to open in 2025.[18][19] Dang was nominated Best Chef: Great Lakes for the 2026 James Beard Awards.[20] Crying Tiger was named to Robb Report’s list of the 21 "Most Beautiful New Restaurants in America of 2025."[21][22]

Dang cites Laurent Gras of L2O among his culinary influences.[7]

Personal life

Dang was born in Dong Nai province, the youngest child among six brothers and three sisters.[23] In 1989, the family fled Vietnam as refugees to Bataan, the Philippines, and later settled in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois sponsored by a Catholic non-profit organisation.[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ HaiSous
  2. ↑ Gerzina, Daniel (October 7, 2013). "Carriage House and Embeya Make Esquire's Best New Restaurants List". Eater.
  3. ↑ Freeman, Sarah (June 23, 2016). "Embeya, A Former Best New Restaurant, Shuttered Suddenly Over The Weekend". Eater.
  4. ↑ "His partner fled with their money. Now he runs one of Chicago's hottest restaurants". Crain’s Chicago Business. September 16, 2024.
  5. ↑ Selvam, Ashok (February 25, 2020). "Former Fugitive Restaurateur Who Cheated $300K from Chef Sentenced to Probation". Eater.
  6. ↑ Chicago Restaurateur Charged with Fraud for Allegedly Swindling Investors in His West Loop Eatery U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, February 12, 2018
  7. 1 2 Kaye, David. "HaiSous Restaurant: Thai and Danielle Dang's Chicago Comeback". Vietcetera.
  8. ↑ Chang, Sabrina. "Award-Winning Chef Thai Dang Brings Vietnamese Cuisine to UChicago". Chicago Maroon. University of Chicago.
  9. ↑ CHEF THAI DANG RETURNS Black Sheep Restaurants
  10. ↑ "Chicago restaurants, chefs among 2025 James Beard Award nominees". ABC7. April 2, 2025.
  11. ↑ Here Are Chicago’s 2025 James Beard Award Finalists Leen Yassine, Block Club Chicago, April 2, 2025
  12. ↑ The 2025 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Award Nominees April 2, 2025
  13. ↑ Here are Chicago’s 5 James Beard nominees Chicago Tribune, Zareen Syed, April 3, 2025
  14. ↑ Yassine, Leen; Ihnat, Gwen (June 16, 2025). "Chicago's James Beard Winners Rip Trump Policies, Thank Immigrants: 'F–k ICE'". Block Club Chicago.
  15. ↑ Stout, Brett Edward (October 2025). "PAUL STUART'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION IN CHICAGO". Menswear Retailing.
  16. ↑ REPANICH, Jeremy (January 14, 2025). "The 20 Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings in the U.S. This Year". Robb Report.
  17. ↑ The 12 Most Anticipated Chicago Restaurant Openings Of 2025 Modern Luxury, Fiona Good-Sirota, March 31, 2025
  18. ↑ Hoey, Nicole (December 30, 2025). "The 21 Most Beautiful New Restaurants in America of 2025". Robb Report.
  19. ↑ Dvorak, Alex (January 7, 2026). "New Chicago restaurant dubbed one of the beautiful in America for 2025". NBC News.
  20. ↑ "2026 James Beard semifinalists". James Beard Foundation.
  21. ↑ Hoey, Nicole. "The 21 Most Beautiful New Restaurants in America of 2025". Robb Report.
  22. ↑ Dvorak, Alex (January 7, 2026). "New Chicago restaurant dubbed one of the beautiful in America for 2025". NBC 5 Chicago.
  23. 1 2 Chan, Bernice (29 March 2019). "From Vietnamese refugee to co-owner of acclaimed Chicago restaurant HaiSous". South China Morning Post.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.