There are many ways to tell a story; words, pictures, and videos are the first to come to mind. But Alex and Yotaka Martin do it through soulful, authentic Thai cooking served up at Lom Wong in downtown Phoenix. And with Chef Yotaka winning the award for 2025 James Beard Best Chef in the Southwest, it’s clear that people are connecting to their story. “Our cuisine tells our family’s stories,” says Alex Martin. “Our whole idea at Lom Wong is to show a small part of a very diverse cuisine that we love as sincerely as possible.”
When the Martins decided to leave Thailand to move to the United States, they originally landed on Orcas Island, Washington. The couple began doing pop-up Thai BBQs for friends and ultimately decided they wanted to get into the food industry. “We couldn’t do that living on an island,” explains Alex. “My parents are snowbirds in Arizona, and Yotaka told me we needed to live somewhere with sun, which is how we arrived in Arizona.”
The couple continued pop-ups at their home in Arizona while they planned for their first actual restaurant. “We didn’t have a restaurant background; we had a belief in our concept,” Alex shares. “We wanted to showcase Thai service, stay true to our recipes, and share our stories. We were able to build a strong team that had a lot of restaurant experience, who helped us make our vision logistically make sense.”
Now open for 3 years, Lom Wong focuses on dishes from three regions in Thailand: Chef Yotaka’s home of Chiang Rai, Kanchanaburi Province, and Phang Nga. With provinces in the North, South, and Central represented, diners can go on a culinary tour of the country during a meal at Lom Wong.
“Different parts of Thailand have different fruits, spices, and herbs,” explains Chef Yotaka. Chiang Rai dishes are herbaceous, bitter, savory, and brimming with umami. Kanchanaburi cuisine is known for the dishes most Americans associate with Thai cuisine, and in southern Phang Nga, the food is typically hot and spicy.
Chef Yotaka sources her ingredients from the local Thai community, Asian markets, and has her mom send things directly from Thailand. Alex has also been known to drive to Los Angeles for what they need. Homemade isn’t a strong enough word for Lom Wong: the curry is ground by hand, and the coconut milk is squeezed fresh. There’s no pedestrian Pad Thai to be found here.
“One of our biggest victories is that we haven’t adapted recipes for the ‘American palate,’” says Alex. “Our belief is that people can eat different kinds of food. We have dishes for the adventurous, but if you’re uncomfortable, we have other dishes to try.”
The foodie community has embraced the authentic Thai food. One of the most popular dishes is Laap Khwai Dip, featuring buffalo tartare, egg yolk, northern homemade spice mix, crispy garlic and shallots, phak fai, pork rinds, and sticky rice. And laap mu muang, made with pork liver, shows up as a popular special now and then.
For the Martins, Lom Wong exists because of the community that shared their recipes, hearts, and home with the couple while they were in Thailand. They have several initiatives that they’re quick to explain aren’t charity or fundraising, but rather repayment. “We’ve done this since 2019,” says Chef Yotaka. “We don’t have much, but if we can support, we will support.” Alex adds that they view their help as nothing more special than helping a friend move.
An example of a repayment was contributing money for the remodeling of a community center for the Moken people in Phang Nga. “We believe in community over self and that extends to our team here and our community in Thailand,” said Alex. “We look at Lom Wong as a conversation. It’s an exercise in how to sincerely share the heritage you were born into or welcomed into.”
Winning a James Beard Award is a big deal in the food world, though Chef Yotaka still says it feels strange because it shouldn’t just be her name on the award, but the entire team’s. With the award in hand, the Martins are looking to the future. With a belief that you should never repeat the same song, they readily admit that they have other concepts in the works that will continue to show the many sides of Thai cuisine and challenge the perception of what Thai food can be. Our taste buds can’t wait to see what comes next.
written by: dena rochè
photographed by: luke irvin