Our Food

Chef Profiles


Jacky Lo

Jacky Lo
Executive Chef

Jacky Lo’s unlikely journey from a Hong Kong business school to chef at the Wild Ginger is the kind of story every teen would like to impress upon their parents.  A middle of the road business student, Jacky pleaded with his family to let him quit and follow his gut instinct, quite literally, to learn how to cook.  Jacky says the majority of his culture doesn’t understand needing to go to school to learn how to make good food.  Against this notion, he insisted that was what he needed to do.
Jacky came to America in 1994, and eventually enrolled at the CIA in St. Helena California. Once armed with his coveted cooking education Jacky began to follow another great Western culinary tradition – he started moving through restaurants and picking up knowledge from the chefs and cooks he worked with. Jacky worked as a chef at several Seattle restaurants before landing the coveted position at Wild Ginger and The Triple Door. Jacky’s unique blend of traditional practices and modern techniques has helped him oversee the Seattle’s Pan Asian giant and the new location in Bellevue.
Jacky married his girlfriend of 12 years, Maggie, in 2006 and these days they care for a beautiful 2 year old baby girl, Chloe.  He says that his wife and child are his solace outside of the kitchen and strives to spend as much time with them as possible.  Asked if he has activities he enjoys other than cooking and being with his family, Jacky smiles and simply says: “No.”
Nathan Uy

Nathan Uy
Culinary Director

When Nathan was a young boy in 1975, his family fled their home in a war-torn city of Cambodia and migrated to the country to work the fields.  His family planted rice and sweet potatoes and Nathan learned to cook from his father on the farm. 
Nathan was a newly married man when the ruthless Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia. He worked for four years as a cook for the Communist Committee, making meals for 200 villagers every day. In 1979 he and his wife escaped this cruel lifestyle by walking 120 miles through the jungles of Thailand to Vietnam.
He left Cambodia when he was twenty six and moved to Renton, just outside of Seattle. Working in various Asian restaurants before landing at Wild Ginger, Nathan has worked here for over thirteen years, and runs the entire kitchen and its team of cooks.  As part of his job, he is also responsible for training both line and prep cooks and speaks several languages - Cantonese, Vietnamese, Manchurian and English. 
Like most chefs in the kitchen at Wild Ginger, Nathan plants a garden at home. Lush with pumpkins, tomatoes, salad and squash for soups, he is in charge of cooking at home, as well.  At the moment, his favorite foods are Thai-inspired as they tend to include a bounty of herbs.
Ming Tan

Ming Tan
Chef - Wild Ginger Seattle

For over ten years, Ming has been cooking in the kitchens at Wild Ginger, starting off in our first kitchen on Western Avenue.  Ming moved with his family to Seattle from Kai Pan, China, and quickly became a key member of our team. He currently oversees a staff of over fifty cooks and manages the production of some of our most vital sauces and recipes. On any given day he can be found quietly leading his team by example; most often working right along side them as they prepare for the day. In Ming’s kitchen, there is no ‘boss’, just staff.  For him, they are all passionate cooks.
At home, Ming cultivates his own kind of home-cooking by growing several vegetables in his backyard – an assortment of Asian greens, plums and green beans among them.  He favors shopping at his local Asian Market and has never succumbed to the Western style of eating, preferring simple steamed fish (his favorite meal) over fast food.  There are three practices to live by in Ming’s kitchen, whether at home or behind the stoves at Wild Ginger – clean, fresh, flavor – an admirable commitment to food that is evident on every plate.

Wei Jie Chen
Chef - Wild Ginger at The Bravern

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Seattle

1401 Third Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
206.623.4450

Bellevue

11020 NE 6th St. Ste 90
Bellevue, WA 98004
425.495.8889

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