Martin, fresh off a James Beard Award win for Best Chef - Southwest, was named among Food & Wine magazine's 2025 Best New Chefs. The self-taught chef from Chiang Rai, Thailand, runs the acclaimed downtown Phoenix restaurant Lom Wong and sibling spot, Mr. Baan’s Bar and Mookata, with her husband Alex.
“I’m so appreciative of the opportunities this recognition affords not just us, but our entire team. I’ve said this many times, but this story is not just mine. Lom Wong, Mr. Baan’s and any other restaurants we open will always be equal parts Alex and myself," Martin shared via text. "Being recognized for our work when there are countless talented chefs in the industry is truly unbelievable and moving. I'm so happy to share the food that we love with the community. "
One thing this year’s class of Food & Wine winners had in common was “stories were told on the plates, and menus read like memoirs,” the editors shared.
At Lom Wong, the Martins highlight Thai dishes from three regions where they have lived and worked – Chiang Rai, Kanchanburi and Phang Nga. The family and friends who shared their kitchens and tables with the Martins are highlighted in large photos framed around the restaurant, a small bungalow on Portland and Second streets. The restaurant, which opened in 2022, has always represented the Martins and the people in their lives.
Yotaka "Sunny" Martin and her husband Alex make curry paste and coconut milk by hand.
Jacob Tyler Dunn
The magazine highlighted the traditional, handmade nature of everything at Lom Wong, such as hand-pounded curry pastes and coconut meat that is hydrated with warm water and squeezed by hand to coax out a rich, opaque milk. Alex says these practices keep them both connected to their family and friends in Thailand.
“We don’t look at what we are doing as any kind of authoritative version of Thai food,” Alex told Food & Wine. “We just want to show what we like.”
Martin and Lom Wong have received a slew of local and national praise since the restaurant began as a pop-up from the couple's home in 2019.
Martin was Phoenix New Times’ Best Chef in 2022. Lom Wong was New Times’ Best Pop-Up in 2021 and its Best Thai Restaurant in 2023 and 2024. The New Times also awarded Mr. Baan’s an award for Best Cook-It-Yourself Restaurant in 2024.
Lom Wong was named on Esquire’s list of the 50 Best New Restaurants in America in 2023. The following year, Mr. Baan’s was among the New York Times’ “50 favorite places in America right now.”
The magazine also suggests a “perfect order” when visiting Lom Wong: the green mango and shrimp salad, yam mamuang boran; a scallop crudo, hoi shae nam pla; stir-fried crab curry, called boo pad pong garee; whole fried branzino, pla rad prik sam rot; a savory mango and seaweed salad, yam sai bai; and a crispy pork belly curry, ba buey khlak ti.
