Chutatip "Nok" Suntaranon (Thai: จุฑาทิพ "นก" สุนทรนนท์) is a Thai chef and owner of Kalaya in Philadelphia. In 2023, she received the James Beard Foundation Award for best chef, Mid-Atlantic.
Early life
Suntaranon was born in Yan Ta Khao, a district in Trang province, where her mother Kalaya operated a curry paste stall at a local market.[1][2] Her father had a problematic relationship with alcohol; her mother sent her to Bangkok to live with her grandmother to get her away from the dysfunction at home and give her educational opportunities.[2]
The family lost their house after her father borrowed from loan sharks and used the house as collateral.[2] He died by suicide soon after she graduated from college.[2]
Career
Suntaranon worked as a business class flight attendant on Thai Airways.[3]
After her second marriage she relocated to Philadelphia and opened Kalaya, named for her mother, in April 2019.[4][5][2]
In 2024, Suntaranon announced the publication of a cookbook Kalaya's Southern Thai Kitchen.[6][7][8] Nok was featured in volume 7 of Chef's Table.[9][10][11]
She was married to the owner of an Italian restaurant in Bangkok.[2] The marriage ended in divorce.[2] She met Wharton School professor Ziv Katalan onboard a flight to New York City, and they married.[4][5]
