I
magine being born into
extreme danger and
poverty. Imagine
migrating to a country as a child where most people didn’t look like or talk like you. Imagine your family fleeing your home country to seek a better life only to experience more tragedy and uncertainty. Now imagine overcoming those life challenges and defying the odds to become one the most talked about chefs and open and operate one the most popular new restaurants in the third largest city in America. That’s the story of Mona Sang, chef and owner of Khmai Cambodian Fine Dining located in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.
Chicago is one of the best culinary cities in the world so it’s not hard to find and enjoy great tasting food any day of the week. But what isn’t so easy to find is an incredible person like Chef Mona who literally started from nothing, worked hard to overcome obstacles that most of us can’t even fathom, and who continues to remain humble even with all of the praise and recognition that she is currently receiving from discriminating food bloggers and critics. Her mother is a huge part of Khmai’s success, and we’re honored just to share her story.