Ming Tsai Biography
Ming Tsai is a restaurateur, television personality, celebrity chef, and former professional squash player from the United States. Tsai’s restaurants have specialized in east-west fusion cuisine, and he has held major stakes in Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Massachusetts, from 1998 to 2017, as well as Blue Dragon in Boston’s Fort Point Channel neighborhood.
How old is Ming Tsai? – Age
Tsai is 57 years old as of 29 March 2021. He was born in 1964 in Newport Beach, California, United States. His real name is Ming Hao Tsai.
Ming Tsai Family
Tsai was born to Iris (née Lee), a future restaurateur, and Stephen Tsai [de], an engineer. He attended The Miami Valley School. Tsai’s maternal grandparents emigrated from Taiwan to Dayton after fleeing China during the Cultural Revolution. As a child, he assisted with cooking at his mother’s restaurant, Mandarin Kitchen. Tsai is the grandson of Chinese composer Lee Pao-Chen and Lauren Tsai’s uncle.
Ming Tsai Husband
Polly Talbott and Tsai Talbott have been married since April 1996. David and Henry are their two sons. Tsai’s squash coach at Yale, David Talbott, and Mark Talbott, a former World No. 1 hardball squash player, are Tsai’s brothers-in-law. Lauren Tsai is his niece. Tsai is a 116th-generation descendant of Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC), the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China, according to Henry Louis Gates’ PBS program Finding Your Roots.
Ming Tsai Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $10 Million.
Ming Tsai Restaurant
Tsai and Polly Talbott opened Blue Ginger, his first restaurant, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, in 1998. Blue Ginger, an Asian Fusion restaurant, has been recognized by Zagat and James Beard, as well as many other regional awards. Tsai was named “Chef of the Year” by Esquire Magazine the year the restaurant opened. Tsai opened Blue Ginger Noodle Bar, a mini-restaurant within Blue Ginger, on March 30, 2010. Tsai closed Blue Ginger in June 2017 after 19 years in business. The reason was the expiration of a lease and Tsai’s focus on ChowStirs, a new fast-casual stir-fry concept restaurant set to open in Boston in early 2018. Tsai opened Blue Dragon in 2013 in Boston’s Fort Point Channel neighborhood, an east–west tapas-style gastropub that has since become a Zagat’s recognized restaurant and was named an Esquire Magazine “Best New Restaurant” in its first year.
Ming Tsai Wife Cancer
Ming and their sons were devastated when Ming’s wife Polly Talbot was diagnosed with lung cancer. They were all there for her and vowed to help her fight it, no matter what her chances of survival were. Despite widespread speculation that she would die, Tsai’s wife made a remarkable comeback — and is still alive. Tsai received the ‘Impact Award’ at the ‘American Cancer Society’s California Spirit 33 Gourmet Garden Party’ in 2018 for his tireless work with Family Reach, a national organization that assists families in financial crisis when cancer strikes. On that occasion, he broke the news about his wife’s illness.
In October 2017, he revealed that his wife was also diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He went on to say that the Tsai family was standing shoulder to shoulder with Talbot to make sure she was feeling normal. Talbot, Tsai’s wife, is currently undergoing a $17,000 pill treatment. Despite the fact that she only needs to take one pill per month and is recovering well, the financial impact is clear to all.
Ming Tsai Sports
Tsai was a squash player at Yale, where he was the team’s number two, and he was named All-Ivy League in 1986. Tsai played professionally on the European circuit while attending culinary school in France. Tsai competed in a celebrity squash match against professional golfer Brad Faxon in 2004 at a Boston squash club. In 2005, he competed in a charity match at a squash club in San Francisco against Mark Talbott.
Ming Tsai Philanthropic
Tsai’s son suffers from food allergies, and she has become a food allergy advocate who raises awareness of food allergens. By 2005, he had become a national spokesman for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), and in December 2012, he received a lifetime achievement award from the organization for his advocacy work, which included his work on the state of Massachusetts food safety bill. Tsai is the current President of the National Advisory Board for Family Reach, an organization that provides financial assistance to cancer families.
Ming Tsai Cookbook
Blue Ginger, Simply Ming, Ming’s Master Recipes, Simply Ming: One-Pot Meals, and Simply Ming in Your Kitchen are Tsai’s five cookbooks.
Ming Tsai Iron Chef
Tsai defeated Bobby Flay in Battle Duck in Season 1 and became the winner. The Next Iron Chef is a Food Network limited-run series that concluded its fifth season in 2012. Each season is a separate competition to select a chef to be designated an Iron Chef, who will appear on the Food Network show Iron Chef America.