Paul Qui facts for kids

Paul Qui is a famous chef who won the TV show Top Chef. He also received a special award called the James Beard Award. He owns several restaurants, like East Side King and Thai Kun in Austin, Texas, and Pao in Miami.

About Paul Qui

Early Life and Culinary Training

Paul Qui was born in Manila, Philippines. He moved to the United States when he was a child. He went to high school in Springfield, Virginia. Later, he studied cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in Austin, Texas.

His first professional cooking job was with Tyson Cole. Cole is a well-known chef who owns Uchi and Uchiko restaurants in Austin. Tyson Cole became Paul Qui's mentor. A mentor is someone who guides and teaches you. Paul Qui worked hard and became the head chef at Uchiko.

Winning Top Chef

In 2011, Paul Qui was one of 29 chefs on Top Chef Season 9. This cooking competition was filmed in different places around Texas. Paul Qui won eight of the 16 cooking challenges. He then went on to win the entire season!

Tom Colicchio, who was the main judge on Top Chef, praised Paul Qui. He said that Paul Qui was one of the most talented chefs from the first 12 seasons of the show.

Paul Qui's Restaurants

After winning Top Chef, Paul Qui went back to Austin. He opened his main restaurant, called Qui. He also started a project called East Side King. This venture serves Japanese-inspired dishes from food trucks. He worked with his business partner, Moto Utsunomiya, on this.

Another one of Paul Qui's restaurants is Thai Kun. In 2014, Bon Appétit magazine named Thai Kun one of the best restaurants in America. In 2016, Paul Qui opened Pao by Paul Qui. This restaurant is located at the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. In 2018, he opened a restaurant in Houston called Aqui. It closed later that year. He also opened TacQui in Dallas in May 2018, but it closed after six months.

In March 2019, Paul Qui planned to open another East Side King location. This one was going to be in Denver, Colorado. It was planned for a food hall called Avanti Food & Beverage. However, the owners of Avanti decided not to work with him.

Awards and Achievements

Besides winning Top Chef, Paul Qui has received many other awards for his cooking:

• He was named Chef of the Year by Esquire Magazine in 2014.
• The James Beard Foundation recognized him as Best Chef, Southwest in 2012.
• Food & Wine magazine listed him as one of their best new chefs of 2014.
• He won the S. Pellegrino Cooking Cup Young Chef of the Year in 2013.