Saiphin Moore
Saiphin Moore | |
|---|---|
 Moore in 2014 | |
| Born | |
| Spouse | Alex Moore |
| Culinary career | |
| Cooking style | Thai/Lao cuisine |
Current restaurant(s)
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Previous restaurant(s)
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Saiphin Moore is a Thai British chef & author who co-owns and runs the restaurant chain Rosa's Thai Cafe and Lao Cafe together with her husband, Alex Moore.
Career
Saiphin Moore was born and raised in the northern mountainous area of Khao Kho District, near Phetchabun, Thailand. She was taught to cook by her mother and aunts.[1] She was brought up on a vegetable farm, which did not have electricity until she was 13 years old.[2] She opened a noodle shop in Phetchabun at the age of 14. She then moved to Hong Kong at 18 to work as a nanny, and began cooking for her employer. This started to grow, with other families in the apartment block ordering food from her. She then opened a Thai grocery store which also provided takeaway food.[1]
Saiphin sold the business, and moved to Jersey where some of her family lived. She continued to cook Thai food, but only for friends, travelling to London to get supplies. Saiphin returned to Hong Kong, where she met Alex Moore in 2001, who she went on to marry four years later. The pair decided to open a Thai takeaway, which grew into her first restaurant,[3] TukTuk Thai.[1]
They then moved to London in 2006.[3] Saiphin then opened a stall on the weekends in Brick Lane, selling Thai food, while she ran a catering business out of her home during the week. In 2008, she opened a restaurant, Rosa's Thai Cafe, on Hanbury Street, Spitalfields.[1] The restaurant was named after the former business at the location, it was a greasy spoon cafe named Rosa's.[3] This proved successful and grew into a chain of restaurants across London, as well as a cook book based on the menu served there.[1] They also opened Lao Cafe in Covent Garden, serving Lao cuisine.[4]
By this time, there were already eight Rosa's locations within London, as well as a specific kitchen only operating a delivery service through Deliveroo in Battersea which is now no longer running.[4]
Saiphin currently has 2 published cookbooks based on the menu she created at Rosa's Thai Cafe, one of the cookbooks focusing purely on vegetarian Thai food.[5]
Rosa's now operates 18 sites across the United Kingdom.[6]
Other than Rosa's Thai Cafe, Alex & Saiphin Moore acquired their first non-Thai Chain in December 2020, the Andina & Ceviche branded restaurant group based in London, saving it from administration.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Meet The Chef: Saiphin Moore". Good Things. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
- ^ Moore, Saiphin (13 March 2015). "Soul Food: Saiphin Moore on the papaya salads of her childhood". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
- ^ a b c Green, Toby (15 September 2014). "Growth Capital: The well-travelled couple bringing a taste of modern Thailand to town". Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
- ^ a b Lutrario, Joe (3 April 2017). "Saiphin and Alex Moore open new Thai concept". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
- ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (29 January 2019). "Rosa's Thai cookbook sequal". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
- ^ McAllistar, James (24 October 2019). "Rosa's Thai to open third regional site". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
- ^ McAllistar, James (11 November 2019). "Rosa's Founders Save Ceviche". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 22 January 2020.