PHOENIX – The chef at a downtown Phoenix Thai restaurant won a 2025 James Beard Award on Monday.
Yotaka Martin of Lom Wong kept the title of best chef in the Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Oklahoma) in Arizona for a second consecutive year.
Rene Andrade of Bacanora in Phoenix won in the same category in 2024.
Martin grew up on a farm in northern Thailand and made it her goal to bring the flavors of the smaller towns and villages of her homeland to the United States.
She and her husband, Alex, started Lom Wong with pop-up service in 2019. Their now award-winning restaurant debuted in 2022 at 218 E. Portland St.
“Lom Wong is a family restaurant that believes in community over self. There is more to food than what is put on the plate in front of you. This is reflected in how we run our kitchen and front of house as well as how we choose to honor and showcase our collective family across Thailand,” the restaurant owners said in a social media post after being named a finalist earlier this year.
Lom Wong is open for dinner starting at 5 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays.
1 other Arizonan was a 2025 James Beard Awards finalist
The 2025 James Beard Awards winners were announced during a ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The prestigious event, aka the “Food Oscars,” celebrated its 35th anniversary this year.
The only 2025 finalist from Arizona other than Martin was Crystal Kass of Valentine in Phoenix.
Kass was named outstanding pastry chef or baker in 2024 and was up for a repeat this year, but the award went to Cat Cox of Country Bird Bakery in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
