Tryon International Welcomes Chef Cheepkhunwong to Blue Ginger
Meet Chef Cheepkhunwong, new Sushi Chef at Blue Ginger Sushi! With a highly decorated career spanning across states and decades, he has no shortage of excitement and ideas for this fan-favorite Tryon International restaurant. We are honored to welcome him to Team Tryon and can’t wait for our guests to experience his iconic sushi creations! Continue reading to get to know Chef Cheepkhunwong.
How did your career begin?
I lived in Thailand until 1985, then worked on a cruise ship as a pastry chef. Two years later, I moved inland to work at a Thai and Japanese restaurant. That’s when my sushi career started.
The cruise ship stopped at a port in Miami, so that’s where I got into the Japanese restaurant. I worked with them for a couple of years, and later on they asked me to be a partner. So, I started opening restaurants with them called Fuji Hana. In 1996, we opened another one in Atlanta because of the Olympics. We expanded to eight restaurants, and also opened a Thai restaurant called Thai Pepper. I did that with them for about 20 years. We sold the business, and then I started traveling to help other people open restaurants.
How did you end up in North Carolina?
I met Chef Walker, and told me about the opportunity to run Blue Ginger. I wanted a change of scenery, so I moved here. So far, so good! I hope that this is my last stop.
What are you looking forward to about running Blue Ginger?
I don’t just want to run a regular restaurant – I want to upgrade to something called Omakase. Omakase is upscale sushi, and nobody does it in this area. We get very fresh fish from Japan. It takes only a couple of days to get here from Japan, so we want people to taste that real freshness.
What is your sushi style?
My style is what they call ‘Edomae.’ It’s like sushi from Tokyo and around that area.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
Sushi is all about creating, and it’s how I’ve traveled from place to place. I’ve been to Key West, Miami, Colorado, [and so on]. Sometimes, we get to use local fish and produce. We create a lot locally, which I really like to do. I love making locals happy, so we’ll source from a lot locally [at Blue Ginger]. There are so many different kinds of fish, too, that people haven’t experienced here yet. I’m going to do my best to make it happen. I have so many ideas!
Welcome aboard, Chef Cheepkhunwong! Sushi fans, come on out and experience his iconic sushi creations at Tryon International’s Blue Ginger. Click here to view this week’s operating hours!