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How Anajak Thai chef Justin Pichetrungsi is pushing his family’s restaurant forwards

Justin Pichetrungsi shares how he is transforming Anajak Thai in Los Angeles, which counts John Legend and The Bear actors as regulars

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James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Pichetrungsi of Anajak Thai is pictured at his family’s restaurant in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. Photo: Carter Hiyama
Lisa Cam

It is not uncommon to see a line outside Anajak Thai even on weeknights after 9pm. The family restaurant has raised the bar for the food and drinks scene in Sherman Oaks, a well-to-do Los Angeles suburb where award-winning bartender Max Reis opened his margarita bar Daisy less than a year ago.

Behind Anajak Thai is chef Justin Pichetrungsi, who won the James Beard Foundation Award for best chef in California in 2023. He credited his success to his parents, whom he calls his greatest allies.

Pichetrungsi worked as a Disney Imagineer – the people responsible for designing and building Disney theme parks, resorts, attractions and cruise ships – but after work in the evenings, he would head to his family’s LA restaurant and spend his little free time helping out there.
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This all changed in 2019, after his father suffered a debilitating stroke. Pichetrungsi eventually left his job and took over Anajak Thai, transforming the decades-old casual restaurant.

The exterior of Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. Photo: Carter Hiyama
The exterior of Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. Photo: Carter Hiyama
He began hosting Thai Taco Tuesdays during the Covid-19 pandemic, something which made the restaurant a viral sensation. It attracted the attention of the Michelin Guide, which called it a “freewheeling no-reservations event that draws lines around the block”, adding that Pichetrungsi’s cooking “balances tradition with a contemporary, crowd-driven sensibility”.
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