CIA Alumni Bio
The winner of Food Network’s third season of Top Chef, Hung Huynh is the culinary consultant at the Hilton at Resorts World Bimini in North Bimini, Bahamas; chef partner/Asian concepts at Earl Enterprises; and executive chef and partner at Mamaling’s Asian Street Food.
Cooking From the Soul
Born in Vietnam and raised in Pittsfield, MA, Chef Huynh was immersed in cooking from a young age at his immigrant parent’s Vietnamese restaurant. A 2002 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America trained in classic French and Asian cuisine, Chef Huynh believes in cooking from the soul. He especially loves seafood because he says there are a million varieties and flavors to combine.
Working with the Best
Chef Huynh worked his way through many of Manhattan’s top kitchens including Lespinasse under the legendary Christian Delourvier and Thomas Keller’s Per Se. In 2006, he moved to Las Vegas to help open the iconic, three Michelin starred Guy Savoy. In 2007, on a whim, Chef Huynh attended an open casting call for Bravo TV’s reality cooking show Top Chef, ultimately winning the title of Top Chef against 15 hand-selected culinary professionals from around the country. Chef Huynh returned to Top Chef as a judge on episode 12 of season four and on the quickfire challenge on episode eight of season five. He also appeared on the finale of season seven in 2010 as the sous chef assisting fellow alumnus Angelo Sosa.
Expansions Worldwide
In 2011, he became executive chef of CATCH in the Meatpacking District in New York City. His globally-inspired seafood restaurant became a international brand under his direction, with four more locations opening worldwide including in Dubai and Playa del Carmen. In 2013, he opened a modern Asian restaurant with the same group, housed in a multi-concept property on the Lower East Side.
Hung Huynh has been featured in top publications around the country, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, People, New York Magazine, New York Post, and New York Daily News. Huynh has made numerous television appearances including The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, NBC New York Live, Food Network’s Chopped All-Stars, Beat Bobby Flay, and the Cooking Channel’s Robert Earl’s Be My Guest.
Chef Huynh has traveled the world over learning different types of cuisines and speaks four languages. He incorporates Asian, French, and Spanish influences in his cooking. If he were a food, Huynh says, “I would be spicy chili—it takes a while to get used to, but once you eat it you always come back for more.”
Chef Hung Huynh majored in culinary arts at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. He is a culinary consultant at the Hilton at Resorts World Bimini, Bahamas; chef partner/Asian concepts at Earl Enterprises; and executive chef and partner at Mamaling’s Asian Street Food.