Chinn talks to me about his citizenship, why and how he speaks Arabic and more. This is one interview you won’t want to miss!
I first caught up with Chef Bobby Chinn back in the summer of 2021, just as the pandemic seemed to ease up on our ability to move across borders. And what a perfect time to talk to a man whose fluidity of origins and cultures has accompanied him throughout much of his life and career. So much so that these days, the celebrity chef is having a hard time managing his Wikipedia page, where a random and overzealous wiki-reader keeps changing Chinn’s citizenship to US. So Chef Bobby, as his friends call him, reached out to me to set the record straight.
I can’t remember when I first connected with Chinn, the product of a Chinese-American father and a lovely, pretty Egyptian mother. Born in New Zealand, Chinn then traversed five continents before settling down in Hanoi, Vietnam. There he opened a restaurant bearing his name, serving the finest in Pan-Pacific cuisine in the city’s Old Quarter.
I think we “met up” on Twitter, when that was a platform of possibilities back in the ‘naughts. Then we caught up face to face and he was even responsible for helping me place my very first ad on MIME.news — the website I sold in 2023 which was taken down by the new owner.
These days Chinn’s latest endeavor is as a celebrity judge on Top Chef Middle East, which begins airing on December 10th on MBC and Shahid. The popular show is in its 8th season, with Chef Bobby adding a “je ne sais quoi” to the mix. I mean, he does that even on a simple outing through London’s Chinatown, so imagine what he can bring to the TV streaming world.
This global nomad, as he describes himself, first appeared on my radar when I watched him on World Café, a television series first aired from 2011 which saw the celebrity chef traveling on culinary excursions throughout countries like Turkey, Syria, the West Bank and Jordan, as well as Egypt of course, and also Asia. Chinn's easy ways, foodie knowledge and enthusiastic view of the world made the show addictive and for those wanting to confirm for themselves, it is still available on Lonely Planet TV. In 2014, a visit to House of Ho, Chinn’s former London restaurant which offered a modern take on share-style Vietnamese street food, only cemented that addiction for me.
Because, let’s face it, after the cameras go black and the burners are turned off, a chef is only as good as his fare.
Before becoming a chef, Chinn searched for his calling and left a career in investment banking, tried his hand at stand-up comedy in Los Angeles and taught himself to cook, by working and volunteering in kitchens in San Francisco and France. He is proud to say he is completely self-taught.
As much as Chinn is the consummate world traveler, he also has plenty of experience staying put. A back injury at the start of his cooking career made him an excellent chef and this pandemic, as well as his own personal battle with Covid-19 during the pandemic seem to have made him an even better human being. Chinn talks passionately about the planet, global warming and how to make the food industry less damaging.
With his long curls and fedora now traded in for a shorter, simpler cut and speaking in his signature husky tone, Chef Bobby makes one imagine a better way, a simpler life, a more conscientious manner of producing and consuming. And he represents the most perfect example of the power of one, that trait we all possess which makes us, as individuals, absolutely invaluable.
Parts of this interview are from 2021, but the first Q&A’s are current, and explain his next plans, as a bridge builder.
We caught up on WhatsApp, which is how nomad friends keep in touch these days.
“Interesting man if there’s a true international man of mystery, its probably Bobby Chinn. He’s kind of like Rick in Casablanca the man knows his stuff.”
So, there have been a lot of confusion of where are you from? You seem to have connections to Vietnam, but you have a Chinese surname but you are a judge of Top Chef Middle East speaking Arabic and then you describe yourself as a global citizen.
Now that's a fun question! My immigration answer is I’m a proud New Zealander at heart, 1/2 Egyptian and 1/2 Chinese. If I need to elaborate more, I’m educated in England, and living in Vîetnam for 22 years until I became nomadic, but New Zealand is where my roots are.
So what passport do you hold?
I have a New Zealand passport — I’m officially a Kiwi!
But you have an American accent. What's the story there?
You caught me! I was American but renounced my citizenship in 2014. If I can’t be the President, I figured I’d focus on something impactful! New Zealand has incredible agricultural exports, and I’ve suggested to ambassadors that I be an agricultural attache helping promote these products globally.
How do your experiences make you a good fit to become an Agricultural Attache for New Zealand? I mean that’s pretty random!
Well, life is random! Being half Egyptian and half Chinese gives me a unique perspective on diverse markets. Plus, my background in television has given me a substantial following, which I can leverage for culinary events, promoting our lamb, seafood, wine and dairy in a fun and engaging way.
Sounds like you have the charisma to make a real impact! What’s your ultimate goal in this life?
The end goal is to be the best version of myself before I die. My day to day goal is to have fun, enrich myself in the things that I love and be happy, entertaining, finding love in whatever I do.
I’m a chameleon, I can fit in but I do not always feel like I belong, so I generally find my commonality versus my difference and have lived a life like that as part of my MO! Television allows me to bridge cultures though food and entertainment. I haven’t planned my life, it’s random, and my path is unconventional, however, I’m always willing to stand on a new frontier.
Well with your passion and background, I think you’d be a fantastic agricultural attaché for New Zealand!
Thank you! Now I just need to find a decision-maker!
Do you think your work has helped to promote the notion that when you step in a kitchen in the MENA region, you're not just a cook, you're actually a Chef?
I’m struggling with this question! When I step into a kitchen, I think the first thing the team sees is a TV personality, first and foremost. Once we start going over the menu, the kitchen equipment, prepping process, how we setup etc. and I start supervising the team, I think they can see that I’m actually a chef. The real difference between a chef and a cook, is a chef is responsible for managing the cooks. However these days, I’m mostly a cook! I think the perception of a chef/cook has changed and TV has definitely helped.
But I mean not just for you but like having these TV shows that showcase the sort of “celebrity-dom" around being a chef, do you think that has changed the way people go into hospitality, or the reasons why they begin to like go into a kitchen and learn the metier, the craft?
I honestly don’t know — it has been glamorized by the media, in some cases, it’s turned the profession into a game show and then there are countless shows from travel cookery to dump & stir shows, but at the heart of it, It’s a craft, it’s a labour of love, it can be very mechanical as well as artistic. I mean to take a raw nutritious product, then turn it into something that's, pleasing to the eye, whilst enhancing its flavors and textures. Food is powerful, evoking emotions, creating, or even recreating memories through food, it has had its global appeal way before television.
Eating, celebrating and sharing food is part of the human experience.
People may be inspired to cook because of TV, even venture into the industry, but it’s the love of feeding people, the lifestyle, etc that will keep them there. I know lawyers, grad students, accountants, that opted for a profession change to pursue a career in the culinary arts. I think the image of the Chef, and cooking is not looked down as much as it was in the past. Today it’s a much more respected profession, and the best of the best are prestigious luxury brands.
Apart from the obvious industries like the car industry, the two industries that probably have the most conscious people, and need to come to terms with sustainability are the hospitality/food industry, and the fashion industry, because there's so much waste in both.
Yeah! Gone are the days when we had winter, spring, summer and fall collections. Zara has 20 collections a year, You have a world population wanting their fashion at discounted prices. China is building another 390 coal fueled power plants, whilst it is already the largest contributor of Co2 gases, more than the United States and Europe combined. I think we need to re-think a new system, that isn’t about ROI’s and consumption of services and goods! That’s too complicated, and above my pay grade, but there are enough brilliant minds out there that have the knowhow, technology and the will. For food as an example, I follow Food Tank with Danielle Nierenberg, Michael DiGregorrio at The Asia Foundation, Dàn Barber at Blue Hill Farm, Resilient Cities with Lauren Sorkin and there are a lot of advocates out there that are showing us alternatives to fixing a broken system.
Do you think that this power of one, changing our eating habits, our personal consumerism and being conscious… is enough, or do we need to change the system as a whole?
Ideally, and collectively, we can change the system, and it’s already happening. Consumers are already moving towards non meat & dairy alternatives. Even companies raising livestock are now looking at alternative fake meats with companies like Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger leading the way. Plant-based non-dairy milks are more readily available in a lot of markets now. I'm more of a traditionalist and want my food clean, free from pesticides, herbicides and other toxic chemicals. I want foods grown for nutrition, flavour that is super local. I don't want my food coming from Silicon Valley. And I surely don't want my food coming from DuPont and Monsanto. A gentle reminder, Monsanto are the same people that gave us Agent Orange!!! Do I need to say more? To accelerate the behavioural changes with respect to the foods we grow and our diets, I believe we need to spend more on education and make dramatic policy changes. A food revolution, for our own health, the well being for the people that work in it, to the animals that die in it and obviously the well-being of the planet and the life support systems for our own survival.
So what is the solution?
We need a global awakening! We have a global crisis and our food system is a major cause. Covid has exposed a broken food system that is very effective at getting us foods from all over the world all year round. Driven by economics, and not for our well-being. Not for flavour or nutrition. The planet is heating up and we are the cause, and we need to change. If history taught us anything, if you want to change human behaviour, as I said, Policy & Education can help accelerate the change.
We have seen a change in the behaviour of companies, in the past they looked at these environmental standards as an added expenditure, eroding their bottom line. Now some companies are looking to be on the right side of history, that will preserve shareholders value. This is growing, as responsible management can see that governments haven’t moved quickly enough to address this crisis. When the rain forests are on fire, when there are flash floods, more violent hurricanes, oceans warming, ice caps melting, I think we’ve seen the warning signs. Covid was a prelude to this Climate Emergency. It’s a serious wake up call. There was a lack of strategy and cooperation to stop the spread, a lack of solidarity to combat the virus, exposing a lot of injustices in many systems, healthcare system, the manufacturing of the vaccines and the distributions. I’m not impressed.
At the end of the day, I’m just a cook and I’m seriously concerned!