Robert Danhi ’91

Chef, Television Host, and Educator (Los Angeles and Melaka, Malaysia)

Chef Robert Danhi ‘91 is a Culinary Institute of America (CIA) graduate, chef, James Beard Award-nominated author, researcher, television host, and educator whose career bridges culinary craft, culture, and storytelling across Asia and the United States. He is the author of Southeast Asian Flavors and served as Main Judge for Season 1 of Top Chef Vietnam and host of Taste of Vietnam, a 26-episode documentary series exploring the country’s regional cuisines, ingredients, people, and foodways. His work in Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and across Asia has shaped cookbooks, culinary education, restaurant development, media projects, and field research focused on how flavor, technique, memory, and place travel across borders. Robert splits his time between California and Melaka, Malaysia, with his Malaysian wife, giving him both professional and personal roots in Southeast Asia. A former CIA faculty member and current master’s student in Boston University’s Gastronomy program, he brings a teacher’s clarity, a chef’s palate, and a field researcher’s curiosity to conversations about East and Southeast Asian cuisines, flavor systems, and global menu innovation. (Instagram: @chefdanhi)