VALLA TABLE IN NEW YORK
Hell's Kitchen Must Try Thai Restaurant
Chef Chuck Valla grew up in a restaurant family and was raised by his grandfather, a butcher, and his grandmother, who owned two restaurants in Northern Thailand—one focused on Thai curries served with rice and the other on Chinese-style Thai comfort dishes.
When he was a boy, his grandmother first brought him into the kitchen by asking him to grind spices for her cooking. “I was seven years old. I thought I was playing,” he recalls. “I didn’t know she was putting me to work.” As a young man, he also spent time working at his mother’s restaurant in Bangkok.
Valla Table’s menu pays tribute to the family members who first taught Chef Chuck how to cook, while also reflecting his own creativity and love for Southern Thai cuisine. He describes his approach as focusing on bold, authentic flavors and keeping certain dishes “the real deal,” staying true to tradition rather than adapting them too much.
