Jet Tila

Jet Tilakamonkul, known professionally as Jet Tila (Thai: เจ็ท ติลกมลกุล; RTGS: Chet Tilakamonkun), is an American celebrity chef, author,^[4] restaurateur, and restaurant developer.^[5]

Jet Tila
Tila in 2018
Born	Jet Tilakamonkul (1975-02-06) February 6, 1975 (age 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Spouse	Ali Tila[1]
Culinary career
Current restaurant(s) Pakpao Thai, Los Angeles (2014–2024)[2]
Previous restaurant(s) The Charleston, Los Angeles (2014–2021)[3]
Website	chefjet.com

Early life

Tila was born in Los Angeles to Thai Chinese parents who immigrated to the United States separately in 1966.^[6][7] His family traces their ancestry to the southern Chinese island province of Hainan.^[8][9]

Restaurant and culinary career

Jet Tila is the chef of the restaurants The Charleston and Pakpao Thai, located in Los Angeles, California,^[10] and Dallas, Texas,^[11] respectively. Tila is the restaurant developer of Dragon Tiger Noodle Co. with three locations in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada.^[12][13] Tila has acted as a restaurant developer and minor partner for the chain restaurant Pei Wei Asian Kitchen (also known as Pei Wei Asian Diner, LLC).^[5]

Tila was given a ceremonial title of a "culinary ambassador" for Thailand, appointed by the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Los Angeles.^[14][15]

Tila has also been part of several novelty food-based records, including world's largest stir fry, world's largest seafood stew, world's largest fruit salad and world's largest California roll.^[16]

Television and other media

He has appeared on television series including Beat Bobby Flay, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen, Tournament of Champions, and Guy's Grocery Games.^[17][18][19] Tila is a regular on the Food Network television channel.^[20] He was a contestant on Iron Chef America but lost to The Iron Chef.^[21] In 2018, he returned to Iron Chef America as the floor reporter.^[22] Tila appeared on Gods of Food, a satirical food mockumentary by CollegeHumor.^[23] Tila won $20,000 as the victorious competitor in Guy's Grocery Games "Delivery: All-Star Noodles" (2021).^[24] Tila is one of the co-hosts of the new Food Network show, Halloween Cookie Challenge.^[25]

Personal life

Tila is married. He and his wife Allison have two children: a daughter, Amaya,^[26] and a son, Ren.^[27]

Publications

• Tila, Jet (2017). 101 Asian dishes you need to cook before you die: discover a new world of flavors in authentic recipes. Page Street Publishing Co. ISBN 978-1-62414-382-3.
• Tila, Jet; Tila, Ali (2019). 101 Epic Dishes: Recipes That Teach You How to Make the Classics Even More Delicious. Page Street Publishing. ISBN 978-1624145735.
• Tila, Jet; Fukomoto, Tad Weyland (2022). 101 Thai Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die: The Essential Recipes, Techniques and Ingredients of Thailand. Page Street Publishing. ISBN 9781645673675.