Chariya Khattiyot

WINNER, MASTERCHEF UK 2023

Industry : Food

Chariya is the first Thai ever to win MasterChef UK. A simple childhood life with her grandfather in Chiang Mai taught her the basics of cooking with fresh ingredients from the backyard. She moved to the UK with her fiancé, working as a district manager for a national coffee shop chain before becoming a Master Coffee Roaster and setting up her own micro coffee roasting company offering specialty hand-roasted coffee and takeaway options. She joined MasterChef UK hoping to promote northern Thai food. She sees cooking as an art; the image of the dish appears first in her head—from colours to presentation—and rather than following recipes, she creates her own, following that image and having fun in the process. Her success comes from her ''tunnel vision''—she gives her all to achieve something she wants. Having wowed judges with her khao soi kai, she has now opened Khao Soi by Chariya restaurant in the UK. In her free time, she enjoys playing computer games, table tennis, and watching sci-fi and action fantasy films.