Andy Ricker

Ricker was born in North Carolina, and lived for a period in Jeffersonville, Vermont.{{Cite web |last=Wilder |first=Charly |date=2024-10-03 |title=The Life and Wanderings of Chef Andy Ricker |url=https://roadsandkingdoms.com/2024/the-life-and-wanderings-of-chef-andy-ricker/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Roads & Kingdoms |language=en-US}} He began working as a dishwasher at a fondue restaurant in Vermont at 16. Ricker left Vermont after graduating high school and moved to Vail, Colorado. After three and a half years as a cook, he left Colorado to pursue international travel.

Whilst travelling, he accumulated culinary knowledge whilst backpacking, working and staging in New Zealand, Australia and Thailand, including in Raymond Blanc's Michelin-star restaurant Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire.

He first visited Thailand in 1987. From 1992 onward, he continued his travels to Thailand, residing there for several months each year to study Thai food culture.

After returning to the United States in 1989, Ricker founded Pok Pok in Portland, Oregon in November 2005, which closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Pok Pok, Portland (November 2005 - 2020)
• Ping (2009 - 2020)
• Whiskey Soda Lounge, Portland (December 2009 - 2020)
• Pok Pok Noi (March 2011 - 2020)
• Pok Pok Wing (renamed: Pok Pok Phat Thai) (January 2012 - 2020)
• Pok Pok Ny, New York (April 2012 - 2020)
• Sen Yai, Portland (May 2013 - 2020)
• Whiskey Soda Lounge Ny, New York (August 2013 - 2020)
• Pok Pok Phat Thai, LA (November 2014 - 2020)
• Pok Pok LA (October 2015 - 2020)
• Pok Pok NW (Spring 2017 - 2020)

• 2007: "Restaurant of the Year" by The Oregonian for Pok Pok in Portland{{cite web |last1=Brooks |first1=Karen |date=July 7, 2014 |title=Chef Andy Ricker Has Always Been Destined for Greatness |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/chef-andy-ricker-has-always-been-destined-for-greatness/ |access-date=September 16, 2014 |publisher=VICE Food LLC. |authorlink1=Karen Brooks (food critic)}}
• 2009: GQ Magazine's "Top Ten Best New Restaurants in America"{{cite web |url= http://andrewzimmern.com/2013/02/06/5-questions-andy-ricker/|title=5 Questions: Andy Ricker |date=Feb 6, 2013 |publisher=Andrewzimmern.com |accessdate=Sep 16, 2014 }}
• 2011: James Beard Foundation Award: Best Chef, Northwest for his restaurant Pok Pok in Portland in 2011
• 2014: James Beard Foundation's annual Book, Broadcast and Journal Awards, in the category "cooking, recipes or instruction" for the article "The Star of Siam: Thai Curries" in Saveur magazine{{cite web |url= http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/2014/05/andy-ricker-wins-second-james-beard-award-this.html|title=Pok Pok's Andy Ricker wins second James Beard Award — but not for his food |last1=Siemers |first1=Erik |date=May 5, 2014 |publisher=Bizjournals.com |website=Portland Business Journal |accessdate=Sep 16, 2014 }}
• 2014: IACP Award in the category "Instructional Culinary Writing" for the article "The Star of Siam: Thai Curries" in Saveur magazine{{cite web|url=http://www.grubstreet.com/2014/03/iacp-awards-winners-2014.html|title=2014 IACP Awards Winners Include Mast Brothers, Andy Ricker, Suzanne Goin|work=Grub Street|accessdate=6 October 2014}}
• 2014: Pok Pok Ny receives a star in the 2015 Michelin Guide for New York City{{cite web |url= https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciaadamczyk/2014/09/30/michelin-star-restaurants-new-york-city-2015/|title=New York's Michelin-Starred Restaurants Announced For 2015|work=Forbes|accessdate=6 October 2014}}

• Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand (co-author J.J. Goode, photographer Austin Bush, foreword by chef David Thompson, January 1st, 2013){{cite web |url= https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18870685-pok-pok|title=Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand |date=Jan 1, 2013|publisher=Ten Speed Press |accessdate=Sep 16, 2014 }}
• POK POK Noodles: Recipes from Thailand and Beyond [A Cookbook] (co-author J.J Goode, May 21, 2019){{Cite book |last=Ricker |first=Andy |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42611973-pok-pok-noodles?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Dg4tcgSzGc&rank=1 |title=Pok Pok noodles: recipes from Thailand and beyond |last2=Goode |first2=J. J. |last3=Bush |first3=Austin |date=2019 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |isbn=978-1-60774-775-8 |location=California}}
• Pok Pok: The Drinking Food of Thailand (co-author J.J Goode, photographer Austin Bush, October 31, 2017){{Cite book |last=Ricker |first=Andy |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33911026-pok-pok |title=POK POK the Drinking Food of Thailand: A Cookbook |date=2017 |publisher=Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale |others=J. J. Goode, Austin Bush |isbn=978-1-60774-773-4 |location=Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar}}

• Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Brooklyn, November 2012
• Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Thailand, June 2014{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/video/shows/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown/season-3/thailand/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140614193217/http://edition.cnn.com/video/shows/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown/season-3/thailand|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 14, 2014|title=Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown Thailand - CNN.com|work=CNN|accessdate=6 October 2014}}
• Farang, the story of chef Andy Ricker by VICE Films, July 2014
• The Taste, Bring the Heat, January 2015
• Diners, Drive Inns, and Dives with Guy Fieri, Season 28, Episode 21, 2018

• James Beard Foundation Award: 2010s

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.pokpokpdx.com/ Official website of Andy Ricker's restaurants and bars] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230034903/https://pokpokpdx.com/ |date=2017-12-30 }}

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Category:Living people

Category:1964 births

Category:American chefs

Category:American food writers

Category:American cookbook writers

Category:James Beard Foundation Award winners

Category:Chefs of Thai cuisine

Category:Thai-American culture