Chef DeeDee Niyomkul began her career in the restaurant industry at a very young age. The daughter of Atlanta Thai Food legends Charlie & Nan Niyomkul (Nan Thai Fine Dining & Tamarind), DeeDee began working as a hostess, waitress and manager at both Tamarind and Nan Thai Fine Dining in Atlanta; however, it did not take long before she found her true passion in the kitchen. Spending most of her early childhood with her grandmother (an original street food vendor in Bangkok, Thailand), DeeDee acquired many of her grandmothers original recipes and cooking techniques . In her early twenties DeeDee furthered her culinary infatuation by traveling to San Francisco where she studied under French Master Chef Xavier Salomon, priming her for her first Executive Chef position alongside her mother at Nan Thai Fine Dining in 2006. After years of enchanting the palates of diners at the esteemed Nan’s, DeeDee ventured to open her own restaurant Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft in January of 2010, an award-winning concept that offers a variety of small plates done in a tapas style, as well as larger entrees that show-case her version of gourmet Thai Street Food. DeeDee currently resides in Atlanta with her husband and son and recently opened a new restaurant concept in Buckhead in early 2018 called "Chai-Yo". In her spare time she enjoys traveling, dining out and cooking at home.