As the chef-owner of Kalaya, Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon has amassed a devoted following with her bold, unapologetically spicy southern Thai cooking. A tribute to her mother, for whom the Philadelphia restaurant is named, Kalaya is Nok’s canvas—a place to honor the flavors of her childhood while stirring in playful ideas, like periwinkle-hued shaw muang (chili-spiked chicken dumplings folded into delicate flowers), or a luxurious take on tom yum soup, served in a massive hot pot overflowing with jumbo prawns and herbs.
“I don’t approach it like a business,” Nok says. “It’s my playground, and I have the freedom to create whatever I want in my own space—and that’s what I love.”
From winning the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic in 2023 to publishing her first cookbook, Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen, starring in season seven of Chef’s Table and, most recently, making the 2025 James Beard semifinalist shortlist for Outstanding Restaurant, it’s safe to say that she’s at the top of her game.
Here, Nok shares what makes her adoptive hometown of Philadelphia—where she’s lived for 15 years with her husband and Pomeranian pups—stand out and where to eat, shop, and unwind for an ideal visit.
The perfect Philadelphia morning: Coffee and canelés
Living in the gourmet heaven that is South Philly, Nok has easy access to some of the city’s best cafes. In the mornings, she often starts her day at the Art Deco Bok Building, a former high school turned creative hub for makers, nonprofits, artists, and restaurants that takes up an entire city block. “It’s my morning temple,” she says. “Some people go to pray. I go to Bok.”
At Two Persons Coffee, a retro-chic cafe on the ground floor, she sips iced coffee while snuggling her fluffy Pomeranians, TiTi and Ginji. She also indulges her pastry obsession with Machine Shop boulangerie’s perfectly caramelized canelés and savory onion Danish. “I love pastries, I love sugar—and Bok is a place where I can hang out with my dogs and run into friends.”
Searching for soulful broths and exclusive omakase
Philly’s food scene, Nok says, is “exciting and down to earth” with genuine hospitality and zip-zero pretension. Her go-to lunch spots include Fiore, a traditional Italian cafe where handmade pastas and pastry chef-slash-owner Justine MacNeil’s budino di riso (rice pudding) always hit the mark. “The menu changes often, so I’m always excited to try the new dishes,” she says.
When craving a bowl of noodle soup, Nok heads to Cafe Nhạn, a low-key, unfussy cafe in South Philly run by a mother-and-son duo, for homey Vietnamese food. “It’s just like how my mom cooked for me,” she says. “And as someone who loves to make bold broths, I love their broth. It’s always good.”
Once a month, she also has a standing reservation for the superb omakase experience at Royal Sushi and Izakaya, where you’ll find a buzzing izakaya in the front and a notoriously hard-to-get-into sushi counter in the back with just eight seats. “Whatever Jesse touches turns to gold,” she says of the chef-owner, Jesse Ito, who runs the place with his father. “I would never miss his omakase. No matter how busy my restaurant is, at 7:45, I say goodbye to everybody. See you later. It’s my ‘me time.’”
The joys of a great market
One of her favorite ways to spend an afternoon is wandering around South Philadelphia’s historic Italian Market on 9th Street. Known for its excellent restaurants, fresh products, butchers, and bakeries, the open-air market was founded by Italian immigrants selling products from pushcarts in the 1800s.
