Christine Hà
Christine Hà | |
---|---|
Born | Christine Huyền Trân Hà May 9, 1979 |
Other names | Hà Huyền Trân[1] |
Education | University of Texas at Austin University of Houston (MFA) |
Occupation(s) | Chef, motivational speaker, author |
Years active | 2012–present |
Spouse |
John Suh (m. 2010) |
Culinary career | |
Cooking style | |
Award(s) won
| |
Website | www |
Christine Huyen Tran Hà (
Early and personal life
Hà was born as an only child in
Hà graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration and finance along with MIS from the University of Texas at Austin.[7] She also earned a master's of fine arts in creative fiction and nonfiction from the University of Houston's nationally acclaimed writing program.[7][8]
Hà has
Hà serves as fiction editor for
Career
2012: MasterChef USA & Recipes from My Home Kitchen: Asian and American Comfort Food
Midway through this year's competition, my money would not have been on Christine for the win – and not just because of her disability – because she just didn't come across as the typical frontrunner. With Christine, slow and steady won the race. She subtly climbed her way to the top by performing consistently well, triumphing over her own self-doubt, all the while maintaining her signature grace and integrity. It was thrilling to watch. And I can say with absolute confidence there was no one more deserving.
Joe Bastianich, a judge on MasterChef[15]
While she has never studied cooking, in the nineteen episodes where she competed on the
Her cookbook, Recipes from My Home Kitchen: Asian and American Comfort Food (
2013–present: Four Senses, Masterchef Vietnam and guest appearances
In 2013, Hà began co-hosting the Canadian TV show Four Senses with Carl Heinrich, the winner of Season 2 of Top Chef Canada. It is a cooking show geared towards the visually impaired, and airs on AMI (Accessible Media, Inc.) TV, a Canadian cable network designed to make television accessible to the vision and hearing impaired. To compensate for the vision-impaired, the show contains a great deal of audio description, where they are narrating what's going on in the kitchen, what they're doing, how things feel or smell or sound.[17][18]
In 2015, she revealed on her blog and Facebook page that she would become a judge on the third season of
She also revealed that she was the first chef/author to become the winner of Helen Keller Personal Achievement Award in 2014, an award given to people and organizations that "demonstrated outstanding achievement in improving quality of life for people with vision loss".[20] Past/current winners included musicians Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Tom Sullivan, actor Charlie Cox (who portrayed a blind superhero, Matt Murdock/Daredevil, was awarded in June 2015[20]) and businessman Bernard A. Newcomb.[21]
She has also opened small-scale pop-up restaurants around the world in the 5 years since winning Master Chef (2012–2017).[10]
The lady has an extraordinary palate, a palate of incredible finesse. She picks up hot ingredients, touches them, and she thinks about this image on the plate. She has the most disciplined execution on a plate that we've ever seen. But the palate is where it's just extraordinary. And honestly, I know chefs with Michelin stars that don't have palates like hers.
Gordon Ramsay, a judge on MasterChef[22]
She has traveled around the world to give TED talks about her life experiences as a blind cook and the lessons she has learned along the way. "Christine has also served as a culinary envoy on behalf of the American Embassy in cultural diplomacy programs in Jordan, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia".[8]
In 2018, Hà opened a Vietnamese gastropub in Bravery Chef Hall in Houston, Texas named "The Blind Goat". The name is a combination of her disability and her Vietnamese zodiac sign. The Blind Goat received three stars from the Houston Chronicle and was named a semi-finalist for Best New Restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation in 2020. In the same Bravery Chef Hall, she and her husband John Suh opened a Korean restaurant called "The Sighted Pig Test Kitchen", which is a reference to her husband’s Vietnamese zodiac sign.[23] The menu is centered around authentic Vietnamese dishes, specifically drawing inspiration from Nhau cuisine. Beginning June 2018, Hà began working on her memoir and second cookbook.
At the start of 2020, Hà teamed up with Saigon House chef and owner, Tony Nguyen, to open Xin Chao restaurant in Houston. The menu showcases their Vietnamese-American heritage and culinary skills with a contemporary approach to traditional Vietnamese dishes with a touch of Texas BBQ and Gulf Coast seafood.[8]
References
- ^ Thanh Nien News. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
- ^ Aaron Parsley; Liza Hamm (June 4, 2012). "Christine Ha Is MasterChef's First Blind Contestant". People. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- ^ a b RYAN OWENS & MEREDITH FROST (September 11, 2012). "Blind Chef Christine Ha Crowned 'MasterChef' in Finale". ABC News. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ TEDx Talks (April 19, 2016), How the Blind See the World | Christine Ha | TEDxUCSD, retrieved October 3, 2018
- ^ Rene Lynch, 'MasterChef' finalist Christine Hà on being blind, and a fighter, Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2012
- ^ "YouTube" – via YouTube.
- ^ a b McLean, Kate (June 13, 2018). "Chef Chat: Christine Hà Sees Things Quite Clearly". Houston Press. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Christine Ha". London Speaker Bureau Asia. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ^ Blind chef serves up tough competition, Fox News, September 9, 2012
- ^ a b Christine Ha (September 20, 2017), Five years after MasterChef: Q&A with season 3 winner Christine Ha, retrieved December 7, 2017
- ^ "YouTube".
- ^ "Interview with Christine Ha, MasterChef Winner, Writer, and Chef - American Foundation for the Blind". afb.org. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ^ "The Art of Food and Literature". Gulf Coast - A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts. February 2, 2012. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "Four Senses set to premiere on AMI-tv" (Press release). AMI-TV. January 21, 2014. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
- ^ Joe Bastianich Blogs: Why Christine Ha Won MasterChef, People, 09/11/2012
- ISBN 9781623360955.
- ^ "Four Senses a Christine Ha Cooking Show - The Blind Cook". theblindcook.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ^ "Four Senses". ami.ca. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- ^ Newspaper, Tuoi Tre. "American chef Christine Hà to judge MasterChef Vietnam". tuoitrenews.vn. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
- ^ a b "Helen Keller Achievement Awards 2015 - American Foundation for the Blind". afb.org. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
- ^ "The American Foundation for the Blind Helen Keller Achievement Award Recipients - American Foundation for the Blind". afb.org. Archived from the original on November 11, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
- ^ [1], HuffPost, 09/11/2012
- ^ "Blind Chef to Open a New Restaurant That Defies Ordinary Description in Hot New Food Hall: From Reality TV Winner to Houston Game Changer | PaperCity Magazine". PaperCity Magazine. April 4, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
External links
- The Blind Cook (blog from Christine Hà)
- Gulfcoast
- Christine Hà on Facebook
- Christine Hà on Twitter
- Christine Ha on YouTube
- Rene Lynch, 'MasterChef' finalist Christine Ha on being blind, and a fighter, LA Times, September 5, 2012
- Video Inspiring MasterChef USA Audition (Season 3 Episode 1) - Christine Ha: Blind Chef , on June 11, 2012
- Video MasterChef US - Season 3 Episode 20 - Final Winner !, on September 10, 2012
- Video Christine Ha at Entertainment Tonight