Paul Qui

Last updated
Paul Qui
Born (1980-08-14) August 14, 1980 (age 45)
Maria ConsueloPhilippines
Education Le Cordon Bleu (Austin, TX)
OccupationChef
Known forWinner of Top Chef: Texas

Paul Qui (born August 14, 1980) is a Texas-based Top Chef winner and James Beard award recipient. He operates restaurants East Side King (Austin), Thai Kun (Austin) and Pao (Miami).

Contents

In 2011, he won the ninth season of reality television cooking competition Top Chef . Qui is also a winner of the James Beard Award. [1] [2]

Biography

Paul Qui was born in the Philippines and moved to the United States as a child. [3] He attended high school in Springfield, Virginia [4] and completed his culinary training at Le Cordon Bleu in Austin, Texas. [5] His initial forays into cooking professionally led to a job with Tyson Cole, chef/owner of Uchi and Uchiko restaurants in Austin. [6] During his time in the kitchen, Cole became Qui's mentor, [6] and Qui eventually worked his way up to become the chef de cuisine and executive chef at Uchiko. [7]

Qui was one of 29 contestants who appeared on Top Chef Season 9 in 2011, which was filmed in locations around Texas. [8] He won eight of the season's 16 elimination challenges and went on to win the entire season. [9] [8] Tom Colicchio, the head judge of Top Chef, said that Qui was the most talented chef in the first 12 seasons of the show. [10] [8]

Following his win, he returned to Austin and opened his flagship restaurant, Qui, and a venture called East Side King, which showcases various Japanese-inspired dishes via food trucks with business partner Moto Utsunomiya. [11] Another of Qui's restaurants, Thai Kun, was recognized by Bon Appétit magazine as one of the best restaurants in America in 2014. [12] In 2016, Qui opened Pao by Paul Qui at Faena Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. [13] In 2018, his new Houston restaurant Aqui received a rare four-star review from the Houston Chronicle, but it closed at the end of the year amidst controversy. [14]

In March 2019, Qui announced the opening of a second location of East Side King in Denver, Colorado, inside the food hall Avanti Food & Beverage. During this period, Qui expanded his restaurant portfolio by opening an additional East Side King location at POST Houston, a large-scale food hall development in downtown Houston. Around the same time, he launched two new dining concepts in Austin: Oko and Top Roe. While Top Roe later closed, Oko has remained in operation and continues to serve guests. Following the closure of East Side King locations in both Houston and Austin, Qui repurposed the former Austin space and, in December 2025, opened Kitsu Nori [15] , a Japanese hand roll bar concept offering sushi, crudo, and highball cocktails. The restaurant occupies the same building and represents a new standalone dining experience.

Awards and accolades

In addition to his win on Top Chef, Paul Qui also has earned the following awards:

References

  1. ↑ "Paul Qui". Bravo TV Official Site. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  2. ↑ "Uchiko's Paul Qui nabs the James Beard Award: Another Austin win". CultureMap Austin. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  3. ↑ "How I Went from Being a Terrible Drug Dealer to Top Chef". MUNCHIES: Food by VICE. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  4. ↑ "Paul Qui | TRIBEZA Austin Magazine". 205.186.161.206. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  5. ↑ "Paul Qui". Bravo TV Official Site. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  6. 1 2 "It's a "Top Chef Texas" Tearjerker". Texas Monthly. 2013-01-21. Archived from the original on 2023-01-28. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  7. ↑ "How I Went from Being a Terrible Drug Dealer to Top Chef". MUNCHIES: Food by VICE. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  8. 1 2 3 "Where Are All 21 'Top Chef' Winners Now? A Look at Their Lives Today After Being Crowned Champions". People.com. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  9. ↑ McCarthy, Amy (2019-04-02). "Canceling a Bad Man Is Just the Beginning". Eater. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  10. ↑ "WATCH: Tom Colicchio Picks 'Top Chef's Most Talented Contestant". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
  11. ↑ "Paul Qui | Austin Food + Wine Festival | April 22–24, 2016 - Austin, TX". Austin Food + Wine Festival. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  12. ↑ Knowlton, Andrew (August 19, 2014). "The Hot 10 2014: Thai-Kun, Austin, TX (No. 8)". Bon Appétit.
  13. ↑ Hamersly, Kendall (February 18, 2016). "Restaurant review: Pao! Paul Qui strikes gold at Faena Miami Beach". Miami Herald.
  14. ↑ Morago, Greg (December 4, 2018). "Paul Qui's Aqui restaurant to close Dec. 23". Houston Chronicle.
  15. ↑ https://austinfoodmagazine.com/kitsu-nori-sushi-south-lamar/#google_vignette
  16. ↑ "The Best New Restaurants of 2014 and Other Tasty Awards". Esquire. 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  17. ↑ "James Beard Foundation". www.jamesbeard.org. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  18. ↑ "Meet the 2014 F&W Best New Chefs". Food & Wine. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  19. ↑ "Paul Qui Wins S. Pellegrino Cooking Cup 2013". Eater. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
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