Las Vegas is known for its countless dining hot spots, from Italian to Chinese to Mexican to Sushi. There are also numerous award-winning restaurants located all over the city which feature many celebrity chefs. In the local Summerlin community, there is a restaurant flying below the radar, owned by a world-renowned Asian celebrity chef.
Chinglish Chef Lam: Highlighted in Food & Beverage Magazine
Award-winning Chef Po Fai Lam was raised in a small community in Hong Kong. Beginning his career as an apprentice at a young age, Chef Lam then found his passion and has been creating exceptional Hong Kong-themed cuisine for over 50 years. A humble man, he is truly an artist who prides himself in not only his work but his ability to mentor and inspire those around him.
Chef Lam’s career has taken him to kitchens all around the world including Beijing, Manila, Toronto, and San Francisco. He now brings his authentic Hong Kong cuisine to his own restaurant, Chinglish Cantonese Wine Bar in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chef Lam and his wife, Anna, along with their daughter, Kitty, and her husband, Ken, are the founders of Chinglish Restaurant Group. Located in Boca Park near Summerlin, Chinglish has won numerous awards. In the past two years, Chinglish has been acknowledged by Las Vegas Weekly and, most recently, was voted Best of Las Vegas for Best Chinese Food and Best Wine Bar. Its sister restaurant, Kosher Chinglish, is located right next door, specializing in the same delicious Cantonese favorites, prepared and served Glatt kosher.
The real driving force behind Chinglish is Chef Lam’s cuisine. All of the chefs at Chinglish are trained under his guidance. He spends his time assisting them in developing their craft and mentoring them to carry on the traditional way of Cantonese Food Culture. Above all, Chef Lam maintains his staff with love and support. The staff, along with regular Chinglish customers all refer to him as “dad,” which he tries to embody by treating his staff as family. To add to the restaurant’s feeling of intimacy, there is a window in the restaurant that allows guests to see into Chef Lam’s kitchen and observe the master at work. His dishes are his canvas on which he prides himself and is always concerned if a guest isn’t smiling. The staff, along with guests frequently comment, “You can taste the love in his food.”
The restaurant atmosphere exudes an upscale, modern feel with the end-goal being to create positive memories and experiences for all guests and staff. The specialty items on the menu are the Peking Duck and “Poh Poh’s Dumplings,” which are hand-folded daily by “mom” (Chef Lam’s wife, Anna) using a secret recipe that has been in the family for many years. Designed to frame each of the items on the menu, the wine bar features an expertly curated wine list and specialty cocktails. Each dish created by Chef Lam is paired with wine or a cocktail to accentuate flavor and create a memorable culinary experience.
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Chinglish believes in spreading its core message of family and love beyond the restaurant by giving back to the community. In honor of its grand opening 2 years ago, all of the proceeds from that day were donated to Nevada’s largest food bank distributor, Three Square, to raise awareness for food insecurity. Meals have also been donated to the Shade Tree organization to help at-risk women in the shelter. Other organizations that Chinglish has lent its services to include the LVMPD Charitable Foundation, Vegas Fire & Rescue, Boystown (supporting at-risk youth), S.H.E.R.O. (to raise awareness for sex trafficking), St. Jude’s Ranch, Las Vegas Academy for the Arts, the UNLV Culinary Program and many more. Not only is this award-winning Chef an avid believer in helping his community but he is above all a family man, always dividing his personal time between his family and finding more ways to give back.
