Philly took house one of many main James Beard Awards Monday evening, because of a chef named after our metropolis. Phila Lorn, proprietor of Mawn, the Cambodian Noodle home, gained the award for Rising Chef.
Phila opened Mawn as a mom-and-pop restaurant in 2023 together with his spouse, Rachel, who operates the entrance of the home.
“I obtained nominated for rising chef, however … it’s a person’s-world kind of factor that I get to go to the James Beard Awards,” Lorn informed Billy Penn forward of the awards. “She’s my enterprise accomplice … I don’t assume I might work with out her.”
“We’re like a dynamic duo,” he added. “She runs the ground with a lot integrity.”
Mawn’s menu revolves round Asian and Cambodian flavors. The chef’s mother and father fled Cambodia in search of refuge in the USA, and the Lorns created the noodle home as an area for consolation and peace. The dishes are cozy and enjoyable, with components taken from Rachel’s Jewish background as effectively.
“What a dream,” Lorn stated as he began his acceptance speech, giving the most important because of Rachel. “I really like you. Thanks to our mother and father. Undoubtedly, our mother and father for figuring out that every one that unhealthy sh*t was only a part.”
The chef, who at occasions appeared overcome by the second whereas accepting his award, took the event to talk to perceptions.
“I do wish to dedicate this award additionally to assumptions — the belief that Mawn was simply one other restaurant, it was too small, it wasn’t centered sufficient. The belief that the meals wasn’t going to be ok or genuine sufficient. I wasn’t in style sufficient,” he stated with some traditional Philly underdog swagger. “Additionally, the belief that this little Cambodian boy wasn’t going to return out the place they put him.”
“After I discovered I used to be nominated for this award, the belief was, I used to be going to win it,” he stated with a wry smile, which drew laughs from the gang. Then he added his mic drop second, “Philly—brrrap!”
Regardless of the cockiness, Lorn was fairly humble when he spoke with Billy Penn final month. He discovered in regards to the nomination within the midst of potty coaching his 3-year-old son.
“Shocked was the preliminary feeling,” he stated. “After which, you understand, disbelief, imposter syndrome. It’s all of the stuff that my therapist is like, you gotta work on.”
Lorn was the primary chef to simply accept an award through the Beards occasion on the Lyric Opera Home on Monday, and the one considered one of Philly’s 4 finalists to win. Chef Jesse Ito of Royal Sushi & Izakaya, who was up for his eighth nomination, and Amanda Schulman of Her Place Supper Membership had been within the working for Finest Chef Mid-Atlantic, and Friday Saturday Sunday, which gained Excellent Restaurant in 2023, was a finalist for Excellent Bar.
“To have that many individuals see [Phila’s] meals and see what we do is fairly cool,” Rachel informed Billy Penn final month. “We had been by no means chasing this sort of factor. It was extra like, we simply wish to make actually good meals. We wish to make cash and be capable of reside our life and do it for ourselves.”
Reserving a desk at Mawn is already powerful, however with the brand new information it’s certain to get more durable. Fortunately, the couple is about to increase their culinary affect within the metropolis. The Lorns are prepping to open their new restaurant, Sao, a Southeast Asian Oyster bar in Passyunk late subsequent month.
To learn extra on Phila and Rachel Lorn and their recipe for fulfillment, you possibly can try Billy Penn’s profile on the couple right here.