Seng Sothea

Seng Sothea (Khmer: សេង សុធា; born in 1984 in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia) is a Cambodian chef and restaurateur. Owner of Palate Angkor, Hot Stone Café, Mahob, Lava and Lum Orng restaurants.

In this Cambodian name, the surname is Seng. In accordance with Cambodian custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Sothea.
Seng Sothea
Born1984
Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia
Culinary career
Cooking styleNew Cambodian cuisine,[1] New Mekong Cuisine
Current restaurant(s)
  • Palate Angkor, Hot Stone Café (2014), Mahob (2014), Lava (2014) and Lum Orng (2019)

Biography

Seng Sothea was born in Kampong Cham Province in a family of poor rice farmers.[2] At the age of 10, he started helping his family in the kitchen with cooking and food preservation. In 1999 they moved to Siem Reap where Sothea started working as a waiter at the age of 15.[3] A year later he got a job at the Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra as a kitchen hand[2] and few years later started working at Le Méridien Angkor as chef de partie.[3]

After being recommended by a friend to the hotel's head chef, Sothea went to Dubai to work for the Grand Hyatt. Afterwards, Sothea also worked for Andiamo, Indochine, and Manhattan Grill. In 2008 he returned to Cambodia and started working as an executive chef at Nest, then as an executive chef and F&B manager in Plantation Hotel in Phnom Penh and finally Metro and Hakkasan restaurants.[3]

In January 2014 Sothea opened a barbecue restaurant Hot Stone Cafe in Siem Reap together with his wife Sonita Chou.[4][2] The same year on July and November he opened his third restaurant Mahob serving Cambodian cuisine[5] and fourth restaurant Lava serving Cambodian, Chinese and other Asian cuisine, as well as fusion cuisine.[6][7] On 1 June 2019, in outer Siem Reap Sothea opened Lum Orng, Cambodia's first farm-to-table restaurant.[8][9] In 2021 Lum Orng was one of three restaurants in Cambodia to be included in the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants' "Essence of Asia" list.[10]

References
  1. Dunston, Lara (10 April 2018). "New Cambodian Cuisine – The Local Chefs Redefining Cambodian Food". Grantourismo Travels. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  2. Vachon, Michelle (3 October 2015). "Khmer Gourmet". The Cambodia Daily. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  3. Dunston, Lara (12 December 2018). "Mahob Khmer Chef Sothea Seng on Cambodia's Culinary Heritage". Grantourismo Travels. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  4. Glasser, Miranda (25 April 2014). "Hot stone cooking the new cool in cuisine". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  5. Glasser, Miranda (25 July 2014). "Seng Sothea expands his hospitality empire". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  6. Kaliyann, Thik (16 March 2015). "Lava's lok lak is sizzling good". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  7. "Lava". AsiaLIFE Guide. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  8. Olszewski, Peter (7 June 2019). "The Farm-to-table movement is here". Khmer Times. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  9. Dunston, Lara (19 September 2019). "Lum Orng Farm to Table Restaurant Siem Reap and the Green Movement". Grantourismo Travels. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  10. "Essence of Asia: discover the local hero restaurants that embody the culinary spirit of the continent". Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
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