REMEMBERING KING PHOJANAKONG

Master chef and entrepreneur, devoted father and husband, cherished friend, and member of the class of ’86, King Phojanakong will be deeply missed.

ARTICLE BY HALLEL ABRAMS GERBER, ‘24

Earlier this year, the culinary world and city of New York lost a brilliant and beautiful leader in King Phojanakong. The Bronx Science community similarly mourned the passing of a selfless, spirited and steadfast former student. Since his earliest years in New York City, Phojanakong centered his life around bringing joy and meaning to others, making him a beloved figure to fellow alumni and far beyond.

A Young King

The son of a Thai father and a Filipina mother, Phojanakong grew up in Stuyvesant-Town, Manhattan, and was a member of the Bronx Science class of ’86. His father, also named King, owned small retail businesses, and his mother, Zosima “Emma” (Arceo), was a nurse. He attended Catholic school before heading to the Bronx for high school.

From a young age, Phojanakong would build a community around him. A member of many friend groups, he was known for being amiable, easy-going, and humble— a “connector” with a magnetic personality. During his Bronx Science days, he was often seen with a wide smile and guitar in his hands.

Friends recall that as far back as sixth grade, Phojanakong called for kindness to combat bullying and welcome new students. “He was someone that everyone loved,” Ayo Haynes ‘86 reflected. “I never heard him talk badly about anybody. He could literally have been the town mayor because he knew everyone and was genuinely a people person.”

Years later, Phojanakong was the man to encourage a friend’s mother suffering from cancer to join in karaoke, supporting her in sharing her voice and having a brief moment of levity. He helped to host Bronx Science reunions and would invite former classmates back to his restaurant afterwards for food and music.

“It was no surprise that he [became] a chef and a restaurateur,” shared Dan Fisher, ‘86. “[King always had] a ‘host mentality’ and [thought] about how he [could] create a moment and environment, the conditions for people to enjoy themselves.”

AN INVENTIVE, GROUNDBREAKING CAREER

After Bronx Science, Phojanakong studied some at the State University of New York at Purchase and the City College of New York. He then studied at the Culinary Institute of America, earning an associates degree in 1998, and set out to learn as much as he could from other chefs and restaurateurs before charting his own path. He helped open David Bouley’s acclaimed restaurant Danube and worked at other Michelin restaurants such as Daniel and Jean-Georges.

In 2005, he opened his own restaurant: Kuma Inn. Playing on the Tagalog word ‘kumain,’ meaning ‘to eat,’ it was a tiny restaurant on the Lower East Side that was difficult to locate and marked only by a red door. It was only the second sitdown Filipino restaurant in Manhattan and it quickly gained a devoted following from celebrities to youth. Phojanakong was a strong advocate for incorporating Filipino cuisine into the culinary mainstream of New York, and here he finally meshed his classical training with cultural home cooking, creating memorable meals that encapsulated his love for both food and his heritage.

Full of smells and flavors, it merged traditional Filipino ingredients like coconut vinegar and calamansi, also known as the Philippine lime, with dashes of sweetness representing the Thai influence. With small plates, he featured Filipino staples like seared sausages alongside more complex dishes like balut, a partly fertilized duck egg, to ravenous appeal. With Kuma Inn, Phojanakong built a thriving community that formed a place for South Asians to feel at home. (He also met his wife there, sitting down to speak with her as she dined one evening.)

Sean Sullivan ’86 shared, “It was like, ‘I have all this amazing classical training, but I'm using that to do the food that I grew up with and that I love and represents my culture.’ He could not have made it a harder place to find, but it was always packed because it was so warm and welcoming and so many people kind of found a place there. He influenced and touched so many people's lives, and he would never brag about it.”

In 2009, he opened Umi Nom (“uminom” means “drink” in Tagalog) in Brooklyn, using a former laundromat whose awning was still prominently featured at the door. He centered the menu around skewers, egg noodles, and other Filipino drinking foods. Umi Nom closed in 2015, and Kuma Inn shut down in 2021, a casualty of the pandemic. At that time, Phojanakong created a pop-up menu in the basement of Jimmy’s No. 43 and Cook Like King, where he offered custom-designed cooking classes.

Phojanakong’s renowned expertise and engaging personality extended far beyond his restaurants. He consulted for several Fortune 500 food brands and made appearances on top food television programs, such as The Rachael Ray Show and Cutthroat Kitchen.

As Aaron Pattap, an Executive Producer at Dotdash Meredith, noted in the SpruceEat’s Remembering Chef King Phojanakong, “Chef King's love and joy for food was contagious. He was not only a talented chef, but he was an energetic storyteller, who openly and eagerly explained the personal and cultural significance of his recipes. His passing is tragic, and it leaves a great void in all our hearts.”

A Legacy Of Love And Service

Through all of his success, however, his classmates say Phojanakong stayed true to himself.

“When you were with him, you wanted to be your best self,” said Fisher. “That’s what he brought out in you because he was so kind and supportive of others, and he wanted to make sure that you were also being your best and kind self, which, in the end, is really the most important thing.”

Giving back to his communities, Phojanakong taught for several years at the Institute for Culinary Education, mentoring and supporting young chefs, advising that “it takes time, patience, and love to perfect the craft. A little skill doesn’t hurt either, but you can learn that.” Phojanakong also created the award-winning Bronx Hot Sauce, which worked to mobilize and support local community gardens in the Bronx and eventually led to a partnership with community gardens across ten cities.

Named a “Champion” of No Kid Hungry, he participated in numerous advocacy initiatives, including representing New York State on Capitol Hill and collaborating with Cooking Matters, a national campaign through Share Our Strength that works to make food more healthy and affordable for families. He actively combated anti-Asian racism, emphasizing the ties that form between New Yorkers and the importance of connection. In all facets of his life, he used his platform to advocate.

Marianne Merritt Talbot ’86 noted, “He wanted to help people. To make the city better. To make people happy and healthy. He was a giver.” Classmates and colleagues alike note how Phojanakang inspired those around him to commit wholeheartedly to their passions, to love what they did, and to make a difference.

Sullivan added, “His first thought was taking care of everybody else. Is everybody happy? Is everybody comfortable? His first instinct was ‘anything I can do for you, anything I can help.’ And he meant it and never wanted anything in return.”

“I think King was like the secret sauce,” Ceming Chao ’86 reflected. “You sprinkle a little here, sprinkle a little there. And everyone was just happier by day's end.”

Talbot added, “The more you give, the more you get. People wanted to be near him. They wanted to go to Kuma Inn. They wanted to invite him to do things because he gave so much of his heart. And he was also very humble. When you love what you do, you really make a difference.”

Ever committed to his family, he cared selflessly for his parents and took great pride in his roles of a husband and parent. Phojanakong ensured he was very present as a father, spending quality time with his children during the day and always picking them up from school. Sullivan shared, “Nothing made him happier than his kids. He was completely involved with them, and it was so great to see the joy he had just spending time with his family.”

Phojanakong died on January 2, 2023, at age 54, due to complications from granulomatous amoebic encephalitis, a rare disease that attacks the spinal cord and brain. He leaves behind his wife, Annabel Nau, and two children, Phebe and Eduard. His wake was standing room only, packed with hundreds of friends from Bronx Science, his childhood schools, the culinary world, and beyond paying their respects.

As his brother-in-law shared on his tribute website, “On January 2, 2023, his big, beautiful heart stopped. We lost a true King. We lost the Great King Phojanakong.”