Thai Dang is executive chef of HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen in Chicago. [1]
His West Loop, Chicago restaurant Embeya was an Esquire magazine best new restaurant winner. [2] Embeya closed in 2015 after his business partner committed a $300,000 embezzlement and fled the country to Spain. [3] [4] In 2020 a federal judge sentenced Attila Gyulai to three years of probation after he pled guilty to wire fraud following his arrest and extradition from Spain. [5] [6]
Dang's next restaurant HaiSous opened in 2017 in Pilsen, Chicago, [7] and reached the semi-final for the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. In 2022, Dang’s restaurants Dang Good Wings and Cà Phê Đá opened on campus at the University of Chicago. [8] In 2024 Dang continued collaborating with Black Sheep Restaurants in Hong Kong at their Vietnamese concepts Le Garçon Saigon and Chôm Chôm. [9] Dang was a finalist for best chef Great Lakes at the 2025 James Beard Awards. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Crying Tiger in River North is Dang’s first restaurant concept with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. [15] [16]
Dang cites Laurent Gras of L2O among his culinary influences. [7]
Dang was born in Dong Nai province, the youngest child among six brothers and three sisters. [17] In 1989, the family fled Vietnam as refugees to Bataan, the Philippines, and later settled in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois sponsored by a Catholic non-profit organisation. [17]