From art to cook

Born in Hong Kong and raised between Hong Kong and Taiwan, Lai moved to the United States at 12 with his family.

A passionate artist from a young age, Lai studied fine arts and art history at the University of California, Berkeley. During his university years, he developed a keen interest in food.

He dined at many local restaurants near campus, and with the rise of celebrity chefs at the time, often visited secondhand bookstores to buy European cookbooks, gradually experimenting with cooking on his own.

"Cooking can satisfy my need for self-expression — it's like painting, but with food," Lai explained. "It's a very direct exchange: if customers are hungry, I cook for them. Whether it tastes good is another story. But it's a very basic exchange and I find it more practical and rewarding than drawing pictures."