Andy Ricker is the American chef widely credited with introducing serious Northern Thai regional cooking to a mainstream American audience through Pok Pok, the Portland, Oregon restaurant he opened in 2005. Born 20 October 1964 in Newport, Rhode Island, Ricker grew up in Vermont and worked in kitchens across the United States before his first extended stay in Thailand in 1987, which began more than three decades of deep cultural and culinary immersion in the Northern Thai cooking tradition of the Chiang Mai region. He announced the permanent closure of all Pok Pok US restaurants in June 2020 during the COVID pandemic and has largely stepped back from the US restaurant scene since.
Ricker won the James Beard Foundation Best Chef Northwest award in 2011, making him one of the first American chefs to receive major recognition for specifically Northern Thai regional cooking rather than generalised Thai cuisine. At its peak the Pok Pok group operated Pok Pok Portland, Pok Pok NY in Brooklyn, Pok Pok LA, Whiskey Soda Lounge and Ping in Portland. The entire US portfolio closed between 2017 and 2020, with Ricker citing pandemic economic pressure and personal reasons for the wind-down. As of 2026 Ricker is understood to be living largely outside the US and is not actively operating the Pok Pok brand at its former scale, though his books and influence continue to shape American Thai restaurant cooking.
TL;DR
- American chef born 20 October 1964 in Newport, Rhode Island; grew up in Vermont
- First extended stay in Thailand in 1987; more than three decades of Northern Thai immersion
- Opened Pok Pok in Portland, Oregon in 2005
- James Beard Foundation Best Chef Northwest 2011
- Pok Pok NY (Brooklyn 2012-2017) and Pok Pok LA closures preceded June 2020 final US wind-down
- Pok Pok cookbook published 2013; influence on American Thai cooking continues into 2026
Andy Ricker key facts
| Born | 20 October 1964, Newport, Rhode Island, USA (grew up in Vermont) |
| Nationality | American |
| Training | Self-taught; extended culinary immersion in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, from 1987 |
| Defining restaurant | Pok Pok, Portland, Oregon (opened 2005; closed 2020) |
| Previous venues | Pok Pok NY Brooklyn (2012-2017); Pok Pok LA; Whiskey Soda Lounge; Ping |
| Books | Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand (2013); Pok Pok: The Drinking Food of Thailand (2017) |
| 2026 status | Largely retired from US restaurant scene; living outside the US; influence on American Thai cooking continues |
Early life and Thailand immersion of Andy Ricker
Ricker was born on 20 October 1964 in Newport, Rhode Island, and grew up in Vermont. He has described a middle-class New England childhood with no particular culinary focus, and through his teens and early twenties he worked in restaurant kitchens across the United States in a range of non-specialist roles. The decisive turn came in 1987 when Ricker travelled to Thailand for the first time and spent several months in the country, with the northern province of Chiang Mai becoming his primary base.
Through the late 1980s, 1990s and 2000s Ricker returned to Thailand repeatedly for extended periods, spending years cumulatively in Chiang Mai and learning Northern Thai cooking techniques directly from home cooks, market vendors and small family-run restaurants. He became fluent in Thai and specifically in the Northern Thai Lanna dialect. This three-decade immersion is widely considered the deepest Thai cultural and culinary grounding of any non-Thai American chef, and it shaped every subsequent aspect of his approach to Pok Pok.
Ricker worked kitchen jobs in Portland, Oregon between Thailand trips through the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005 at age 41 he opened Pok Pok as a small takeaway shack on Southeast Division Street in Portland, serving Northern Thai regional dishes that were almost entirely absent from American Thai restaurants at the time. Pok Pok grew rapidly from the original shack to a sit-down restaurant, and by the early 2010s Ricker had become one of the most-discussed American chefs specialising in a specific regional Asian cuisine.
Andy Ricker career timeline
- 20 October 1964: Born in Newport, Rhode Island, USA
- 1987: First extended stay in Thailand; Chiang Mai becomes primary base
- Late 1980s-early 2000s: Repeated extended stays in Northern Thailand; becomes fluent in Thai
- Late 1990s: Works kitchen jobs in Portland, Oregon between Thailand trips
- 2005: Opens Pok Pok as a takeaway shack on Southeast Division Street, Portland
- 2007: Pok Pok expands to a full sit-down restaurant
- 2008: Opens Whiskey Soda Lounge across the street from Pok Pok
- 2011: Wins James Beard Foundation Best Chef Northwest
- 2012: Opens Pok Pok NY on Columbia Street in Columbia Street Waterfront District, Brooklyn
- 2013: Publishes Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand
- 2014: Opens Pok Pok LA in Chinatown, Los Angeles
- 2015: Opens Ping in downtown Portland
- 2017: Pok Pok NY Brooklyn closes
- 2017: Publishes Pok Pok: The Drinking Food of Thailand
- 2018: Pok Pok LA closes
- June 2020: Announces permanent closure of all remaining Pok Pok US restaurants citing pandemic pressure
- 2020-2023: Steps back from active US restaurant work; reports of extended stays outside the US
- 2024-2025: Largely retired from US restaurant scene; Pok Pok cookbook and influence on American Thai cooking continue
- 2026: Not actively operating the Pok Pok brand; American Thai restaurant cooking continues to reflect Ricker’s influence
Andy Ricker signature style: Northern Thai regional cooking
Ricker’s central argument, developed across three decades of Thailand immersion and demonstrated at Pok Pok from 2005, is that Northern Thai regional cooking from the Chiang Mai area is a distinct and serious cuisine that had been largely absent from American Thai restaurants before Pok Pok. The Pok Pok menu systematically presented dishes like khao soi (Northern Thai coconut curry noodle soup), sai ua (Chiang Mai herbal sausage), laab moo khua (Chiang Mai-style minced pork salad), and the Ike’s fish sauce wings that became the restaurant’s most-copied single dish. The approach treated Northern Thai cooking with the same regional specificity that fine-dining American restaurants typically applied to French or Italian regional cuisines.
The second defining element is insistence on authentic ingredients and technique. Ricker has been publicly documented importing specific Thai ingredients, sourcing specific Northern Thai herbs and chilies, and refusing to adjust dishes to American palates. The approach sat alongside contemporaries like David Thompson (Australian chef of Nahm Bangkok and Aksorn) in the small international group of non-Thai chefs working at serious Thai fine-dining level in the 2000s and 2010s.
The third pillar is the two cookbooks published with J.J. Goode, Pok Pok (2013) and Pok Pok: The Drinking Food of Thailand (2017). Both are heavily-researched, photo-documented volumes that have become reference texts for American Thai home cooks and restaurant chefs. The books continue to sell and continue to be cited across American Thai restaurant cooking in 2026, even as the Pok Pok restaurants themselves have closed. Within the contemporary American Asian-regional cohort Ricker sits alongside peers including Roy Choi (Korean-Mexican in Los Angeles) and David Chang (Momofuku New York) as one of the defining figures of 2000s-2010s American regional-Asian cookery.
Notable Andy Ricker dishes
Several Pok Pok dishes have become reference points in American Thai cooking. The Ike’s fish sauce wings (named after a Vietnamese chef who inspired them, though presented in a Northern Thai register) is the single most-copied Pok Pok dish and appears on menus across US Thai and Asian restaurants a decade later. The khao soi Northern Thai coconut curry noodle soup, the sai ua Chiang Mai herbal sausage, the laab moo khua minced pork salad, and the papaya salad prepared in the Isaan style were long-running menu fixtures. Ricker’s two Pok Pok cookbooks (2013 and 2017) document these and dozens more dishes with extensive regional sourcing notes and technique. The cookbooks continue to shape American Thai home cooking and restaurant practice in 2026.
Andy Ricker awards and recognition
- 2005: Opens Pok Pok as takeaway shack on Southeast Division Street, Portland
- 2011: James Beard Foundation Best Chef Northwest
- 2012: Opens Pok Pok NY Brooklyn (operated 2012-2017)
- 2013: Pok Pok cookbook published with J.J. Goode
- 2014: Opens Pok Pok LA in Chinatown Los Angeles
- 2017: Pok Pok: The Drinking Food of Thailand cookbook published
- 2017: Pok Pok NY Brooklyn closes
- 2018: Pok Pok LA closes
- June 2020: Announces permanent closure of all remaining Pok Pok US restaurants
- 2020-2023: Steps back from US restaurant scene
- 2024-2025: Largely retired; cookbook and influence continue
- 2026: Not actively operating Pok Pok brand; American Thai cooking continues to reflect his influence
Andy Ricker impact on American Thai cooking
Ricker’s most concrete contribution is the 15-year Pok Pok run from 2005 to 2020 and its systematic introduction of Northern Thai regional cooking to American audiences. Before Pok Pok, American Thai restaurants had largely been pan-Thai in approach, focused on a small set of Central and Southern Thai dishes like pad thai and green curry. The Pok Pok argument, that Northern Thai regional cooking from Chiang Mai is distinct and deserves separate treatment, reshaped the American Thai restaurant category and has been adopted widely since.
The second contribution is the two Pok Pok cookbooks with J.J. Goode. Pok Pok (2013) and Pok Pok: The Drinking Food of Thailand (2017) are among the most-cited American cookbooks on Thai regional cooking, and they continue to shape American Thai home cooking and restaurant practice in 2026 even as the restaurants themselves have closed. The books sit alongside David Thompson‘s Thai Food (2002) as reference texts for serious Thai regional cooking in English.
The third contribution is the James Beard Best Chef Northwest recognition in 2011. The award made Ricker one of the first American chefs to receive James Beard recognition for specifically regional Asian cooking rather than generalised Asian or pan-Asian cuisine, and it helped establish that regional Asian cooking could be recognised at the same level as regional French or Italian cooking. Within the American regional-Asian cohort Ricker sits alongside Roy Choi (Korean-Mexican Los Angeles) and David Chang (Momofuku New York) as one of the defining 2000s-2010s figures.
Andy Ricker FAQ
Is Pok Pok still open?
No. Ricker announced the permanent closure of all remaining Pok Pok US restaurants in June 2020, citing the economic pressure of the COVID pandemic. Pok Pok NY Brooklyn had closed in 2017 and Pok Pok LA in 2018. The original Pok Pok Portland on Southeast Division Street closed in the 2020 announcement. As of 2026 no Pok Pok restaurants operate in the United States.
Where is Andy Ricker now?
Ricker is understood to be living largely outside the United States since the 2020 Pok Pok wind-down, with extended time in Thailand. He is not actively operating the Pok Pok brand at its former scale, and has stepped back from the US restaurant scene. His public presence on social media has been intermittent since the closures.
What is Northern Thai cooking?
The regional cuisine of Northern Thailand, particularly the Chiang Mai region, historically known as the Lanna Kingdom. The cuisine differs from Central and Southern Thai cooking in its use of sticky rice as the staple, its herbal sausages and minced-meat salads, the khao soi coconut curry noodle soup, and dishes like sai ua and laab moo khua that are specifically Northern Thai.
How did Ricker learn Thai cooking?
Through more than three decades of extended stays in Thailand starting in 1987, primarily in Chiang Mai in the north. Ricker learned directly from home cooks, market vendors and small family-run restaurants, and became fluent in Thai and specifically in the Northern Thai Lanna dialect. He did not attend a formal culinary school.
What are the Pok Pok cookbooks?
Two cookbooks co-authored with J.J. Goode: Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand (2013) and Pok Pok: The Drinking Food of Thailand (2017). Both are heavily-researched reference texts for American Thai cooking and continue to sell and shape American Thai restaurant practice in 2026 even after the restaurant closures.
What is next for Andy Ricker
Ricker is largely retired from the US restaurant scene since the 2020 Pok Pok wind-down. The two Pok Pok cookbooks continue to sell and continue to shape American Thai cooking. His public Instagram (@andyricker) is the best source for any current updates.
