The Guest Series with James Syhabout (Commis, Hawker Fare - Oakland)

On Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th October we have James Shyabout joining us from Oakland, California, in the Lyle’s kitchen.

James was born in northeast Thailand in the Lao-majority region of Isan, which was historically part of the Lan Xang Kingdom, the pre-French colonialism precursor of Laos. At the age of two, his family left the country after the fall of Saigon in 1975 and they eventually landed in Oakland. His parents started a Thai restaurant, where his mom cooked foods of her homeland. Helping her in the kitchen at the restaurant, an interest in food was born at a young age.

Pivoting away from the cooking he grew up with, James attended the California Culinary Academy and went on to work in some of the best kitchens in the world, including at Manresa with David Kinch, Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck, Daniel Patterson’s Coi and he spent a season at El Bulli with Ferran Adria.

Returning to Oakland, James opened his first restaurant, Commis, in 2010. It was awarded a Michelin star a mere few months after opening. At Commis, the cooking is precise and polished, but it’s built on the stunning raw produce of California, with the menu listing locally-sourced ingredients in painstaking detail.

In stark contrast to Commis, James opened Hawker Fare in 2011, a quick-casual restaurant serving the south-east Asian cuisine, celebrating the food that he loved to eat growing up but had neglected in his career.

Next came Box & Bells Eating House and The Dock (later to become Old Kan), both in Oakland, followed by the 2015 opening of a Hawker Fare San Francisco, and new Hawker Fare offshoot, Hawking Bird, also in Oakland.

Most recently, James published his first cookbook “Hawker Fare: Stories and Recipes from a Refugee Chef’s Isan Thai & Lao Roots, ” in which he shares authentic recipes and writes about his family’s Thai and Laotian roots.

James’ elegant and cerebral cooking draws on years of experience working in some of the world’s best restaurants, and this combined with his approach to casual dining and east Asian cooking, is what has us hugely excited to welcome him into our kitchen.

Tickets are £69 for the set menu (drinks and service are not included). Priority tickets (Mastercard holders only) go on sale Monday 1st October at 4pm, and general release is Friday 6th October at 4pm. Tickets are available via lyleslondon.com