Bobby Chinn

“Interesting man–if there’s a true international man of mystery, it’s probably Bobby Chinn.”
 
Anthony Bourdain, Chef, Author, TV Personality
 
Bobby Chinn is instantly recognizable as a media personality, celebrity chef and host of the hugely successful ‘World Café’ franchise. He is now a permanent fixture on ‘Top Chef Middle East’ and hosts ‘Keep It Simple ‘which launched in 2020. On his journey to internationally acclaimed chef, author and restaurateur, Bobby has established himself as a mainstay of the global food-channel networks and he is recognized as an expert on Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines. He regularly features as a Guest Chef on the world’s favorite cooking shows and has collaborated with such personalities as Keith Floyd, Martha Stewart, Anthony Bourdain, Antony Worrall Thompson and Andrew Zimmern. Bobby graduated Richmond University, London with a BA in Business Administration and Economics, and was later awarded an honorary PhD in Liberal Arts for his contribution to vocational skill development and his cross-cultural endeavors. He is fluent in English and Arabic, and is an accomplished stand-up comedian, musician and performer. Having worked at everything from selling kites to hustling on the floor of the NY stock exchange, Bobby followed his true passion to San Francisco where he had the privileged opportunity to learn from Hubert Keller, Elka Gilmore and other culinary greats. 
 
Having developed his own singular style, blending fresh Asian flavors with a distinctive Californian vibe, Bobby’s wanderlust brought him to Vietnam, where he spent the next 22 years developing and perfecting modern Vietnamese cuisine. Having gained a loyal following through his early ventures at Camargue, Saigon Joe’s, Miro and Red Onion, it was at the eponymous ’Restaurant Bobby Chinn’ in Hanoi that the accolades started to roll-in. With awards for ‘Best Bar’, ‘Best Restaurant’ and ‘Best Lounge’, as well as the highly coveted Five-Diamonds Award, Bobby garnered international acclaim as both a chef and a restaurateur, entertaining the who’s who of Vietnam and cooking for the rich and famous including the Clintons and Bob Dylan. Following the success of ‘Wild Wild East: Recipes & ‘Bobby Chinn’s Vietnamese Food’), Bobby opened ‘Bobby Chinn Saigon’ in Ho Chi Minh City, and Bobby Chinn’s ‘House of Ho’ in Soho, London, where he is credited with elevating modern Vietnamese cuisine to the forefront of the culinary scene. 
 
It was during this time that he simultaneously achieved celebrity status, first through ‘World Café’ and then ‘Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia’, ‘Detox’ and ‘Restaurant Bobby Chinn’. 
Along the way, Bobby’s passion for food, eccentric personality and engaging style garnered him awards for ‘Best Entertainment Presenter’, ‘Best Entertainment Program’ and ‘Best Reality Show-Executive Producer’. Outside of the kitchen and the studio, Bobby is committed to supporting communities and causes that have been meaningful to him through his career. Most notably, Bobby supports vocational training programs aimed to improve the future prospects of disadvantaged children, through Vietnam’s ‘Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation’ and he has served as the WWF‘ Ambassador for Sustainable Seafood and Coral Triangle Awareness’. Most recently, Bobby was appointed Tourism Ambassador of Vietnam for Europe, in recognition of the contribution he has made in popularizing Vietnam as a safe and hospitable destination for international visitors.