Our Story

Chef DeeDee Niyomkul began her career in the restaurant industry at a very young age. Growing up as the daughter of Atlanta Thai food legends Charlie & Nan Niyomkul (Nan Thai Fine Dining & Tamarind), DeeDee found herself working nearly every position in her family’s restaurants, including hosting, bartending, waitressing, and managing. However, she discovered that her real passion was working in the kitchen.

She spent most of her early childhood with her grandmother, an original street food vendor in Bangkok, Thailand. DeeDee spent countless hours in the kitchen with her grandmother at home, where she acquired many of her grandmother’s original recipes and cooking techniques. In her early twenties, DeeDee furthered her culinary infatuation by traveling to San Francisco, studying under French Master Chef Xavier Salomon, preparing for her first Executive Chef position alongside her mother at Nan Thai Fine Dining in 2006.

DeeDee spent years enchanting the palates of diners at the esteemed Nan Thai Fine Dining restaurant. In January 2010, she ventured out to open her restaurant Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft, an award-winning concept that offers a variety of small plates done in a tapas-style and larger entrees that show-case her version of gourmet Thai Street Food. Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft has since been named one of the Top Thai Restaurants in the United States by Travel + Leisure Magazine.

In January 2018, Chef DeeDee opened her newest restaurant concept, Chai Yo Modern Thai, in Atlanta's prestigious Buckhead neighborhood, where she constructs imaginative classical Thai dishes using modern techniques. Niyomkul’s menu at Chai Yo Modern Thai carefully focuses on delivering an inventive interplay of Thai flavors and textures, guiding the diner on a culinary exploration of provincial Thai dishes. Chef DeeDee has a passion for traveling and frequently voyages across Thailand's diverse landscapes to become inspired by ingredients that give her carefully balanced recipes incredible flavor.

Most recently, Chef DeeDee cooked on Food Network’s hit TV show, “Beat Bobby Flay”. Her dish, the Lobster Tom Kha, is on menu at Chai Yo Modern Thai and garnered a win against Bobby Flay.