Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders Chef Ming Tsai, TV Personality, Entrepreneur, & Founder, MingsBings – Bing-ing Together Tradition and Innovation: Transforming the Freezer Aisle with Health and Taste
In a landscape where standing out demands both innovation and accessibility, finding ways to connect with a broad audience is crucial. Today's guest has been on a career-long quest to revolutionize the culinary world by blending tradition with modernity, creating products that not only appeal to diverse audiences but also prioritize health and taste.
Today we are lucky enough to sit down with Chef Ming Tsai, who is not only an Iron Chef, he's also a James Beard and Emmy Award winner, and a Chef-partner at BABA at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. He's also President of the National Advisory Board for Family Reach and the author of five cookbooks.
Chef Ming was the host and the Executive Producer of the longest-running cooking series on PBS, Simply Ming, and just received acclaim for his new mini-series titled Simply Ming: Better for You. He founded MingsBings, a consumer packaged goods startup bringing chef quality, better-for-you, convenient food to the frozen food aisle.
Beyond being the first East meets West option of its kind, MingsBings supports the mission of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Family Reach. To date, Chef Ming has helped raise $12 million for Family Reach.
In 2022, Chef Ming became Iron Chef Ming Tsai as he joined the cast of five world-class chefs in the Netflix series, Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend.
Highlights:
- Chef Ming's first cooking experiences, and introduction to the culinary world (4:21)
- Chef Ming's favorite dishes from childhood (7:19)
- What Chef Ming learned from his family's restaurant (7:46)
- How Chef Ming adjusted from Chef to businessperson (8:44)
- Early mistakes and lessons from running a restaurant (10:54)
- Chef Ming explains his East meets West cuisine style and influence (11:45)
- Work in the TV and entertainment industry (14:35)
- Chef Ming discusses his time on Iron Chef (16:50)
- Chef Ming's approach to writing cookbooks (18:07)
- The inspiration behind MingsBings (19:17)
- Philanthropic work for Family Reach (21:54)
- Chef Ming tells stories about his famous friends in the culinary world (25:21)
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If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, marion@lowerstreet.co.