Lom Wong chef wins James Beard Award®

Yotaka Martin of Lom Wong restaurant in downtown Phoenix has won her first James Beard Award® for Best Chef in the Southwest.

Martin grew up cooking alongside her mother in Thailand. Since 2022, she has shared her family and hometown recipes as the chef at Lom Wong.

The 2025 James Beard Foundation Awards® were announced on June 16, 2025, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Winning a James Beard Award® is one of the highest honors a chef or restaurant can receive. It is sometimes considered to be the “Oscars” of the food industry. Fifteen Arizonans were semifinalists in 2025; two made it to the final round.

Alex Martin, Owner of Lom Wong, and Yotaka “Sunny” Martin, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the award.

“I’m very happy you know, and I just feel strange that only my name on that award. Because me and my husband you know we both share, kind of co-owner. But you know it doesn’t matter you know who’s name on that, but you know it’s award for our restaurant,” Yotaka said.

Lom Wong features cuisine from three regions of Thailand, including the region of Thailand where Chef Yotaka grew up. Alex shared some of their intentions behind Lom Wong and what they want to share with their customers.

“I think that, kind of our whole concept is that sincerity, and so I think that people connect to that. It’s about having their home, and having people come into our home and try the food. And I think that when you create and environment like that people really just like that sincerity,” Alex said.