Lertchai Treetawatchaiwong ( th, เลิศชัย ตรีธวัชชัยวงศ์; born 28 April 1978) is a Thai-

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

software engineer Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term ''p ...

, restaurateur and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. With his business and life partner, the Danish

sommelier A sommelier ( or or ; ), or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the wine steward in fin ...

and chef , he has founded and operates a host of restaurants, mainly in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, ranging from the

Michelin-starred The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

restaurant '' Kiin Kiin'' to gourmet take-aways.

Biography

Treetawatchaiwong was born in

Bangkok's Chinatown Bangkok's Chinatown is one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. It was founded in 1782 when the city was established as the capital of the Rattanakosin Kingdom, and served as the home of the mainly Teochew immigrant Chinese population, who ...

, an area centred on

Yaowarat Road Yaowarat Road ( th, ถนนเยาวราช, ; ) in Samphanthawong District is the main artery of Bangkok's Chinatown. Modern Chinatown now covers a large area around Yaowarat and Charoen Krung Road. It has been the main centre for trading ...

, into a family of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

origins. He studied to become an engineer and first arrived in Denmark as a trainee in 2000, originally with no intentions to stay. Shortly prior to his return to Thailand he applied for some jobs and when he was offered a job at

Ericsson (lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informa ...

. In 2002, he moved on to work for

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

as a

. Treetawatchaiwong first met Yde-Andersen, who had just returned from a stay in Bangkok, through mutual friends in 2005. They developed plans to introduce Thai

Haute cuisine ''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is the cuisine of "high-level" establishments, gourmet restaurants, and luxury hotels. ''Haute cuisine'' is characterized by the meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food at a high pric ...

to Copenhagen's gourmet restaurant scene, otherwise dominated by the New Nordic Cuisine movement spearheaded by

Noma Noma, NoMa, or NOMA may refer to: Places * NoMa, the area North of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., US ** NoMa–Gallaudet U station, on Washington Metro * Noma, Florida, US * NOMA, Manchester, a redevelopment in England * Noma Distr ...

which opened in 2004. As part of their preparations, they visited all Michelin restaurants in Copenhagen as well as Asian top places in London. They first opened the take-away ''Aroii'' in Nørrebro but shortly after followed their main project, ''Kiin Kiin'', which opened to excellent reviews in 2006 and received a rising star in the 2007

Michelin Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of ...

. The following year '' Kiin Kiin'' was awarded a Michelin Star which it has kept since then. In 2008, the duo opened The Ricemarket, an Asian bistro, on

Kultorvet Kultorvet (literally "The Coal Market") is a public square in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with Købmagergade and the southern part of Frederiksborggade, it forms a pedestrian zone between Nørreport station and Amagertorv on Str� ...

in the city centre. 2009 saw them open a restaurant dedicated to the

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

Dim sum tradition which also lend it its name. It was originally planned to open in the

Meatpacking District The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan that runs from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street. The Meatpacking Business Improvement District along ...

but after problems with approvals, it was instead located on

Sankt Annæ Plads Sankt Annæ Plads (English: St. Ann's Square) is a public square which marks the border between the Nyhavn area and Frederiksstaden neighborhoods of central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is a long narrow rectangle which extends inland from the waterfron ...

. In April 2010 ''Aroiidee'' was opened with a selection of Thai,

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

dishes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Treetawatchaiwong, Lertchai Danish restaurateurs 1978 births Thai expatriates in Denmark Living people