Andy Ricker

Andy Ricker has an insatiable thirst for the unknown. Born in North Carolina, he’s been globetrotting since his 20’s, backpacking through New Zealand, Australia and Europe before discovering his true love: Thailand. His love of Thailand inspired the birth of Pok Pok, a restaurant that quickly became one of the most celebrated institutions in Portland, Oregon. Its success grew into an empire all its own (or a religion, depending on how you feel about Andy’s tangy fish sauce wings), culminating in Pok Pok locations springing up from Los Angeles to New York. Since then Andy’s received generous praise from GQ to Bon Appetit for his bold, innovative flavors. He earned his first James Beard Award for Best Chef in 2011, wrote a cookbook in 2013 and went on to earn a second James Beard Award for his breathtaking essay on curries in Saveur magazine in 2014. A spice enthusiast with a heart of gold, Andy goes back to Thailand every year to hone his craft, forever humbling us with his devotion and willingness to learn. 

He never stops learning.

Andy devotes a few months to every year to studying in Thailand. He spends this time traveling through the country in search of new ingredients, dishes and the extraordinary people who make them, making him one of the most knowledgeable, curious chefs we know.

He’s an adventurer through and through.

Andy’s approach to food? “Just try everything.” No matter how foreign or novel, Andy’s willingness to embrace new things makes him one of our favorite people to travel with.

He loves to experiment. 

Andy’s always eager to bring something new to Thai food stateside. He honors native Thai dishes by preserving their powerful spices rather than taming them for Western palates, an approach best exemplified in Pok Pok’s famously addictive fish sauce glazed chicken wings. 

Exotic Eats Ahead

There’s a whole world of brand new flavors, textures, sights and sounds just waiting to be discovered. We’ll begin in the Phang-gna province and work our way south, eating and drinking merrily as we go. Expect to try new ingredients like fragrant Kaffir lime, galangal and lemongrass, freshly cooked snacks from street vendors and plenty of colorful, spicy regional curries.

Travel With Heart

We believe giving back enriches our travel experience. That’s why we do our best to work with businesses that share our commitment to using travel to better the communities we visit, honoring sustainable practices and local initiatives whenever we go.

Revel In Thailand’s Natural Beauty

Welcome to a country that’s as diverse as it is beautiful. From misty jungles to cool azure beaches, expansive natural parks that stretch across five islands and beyond, you’ll find just about every type of terrain to explore here.

“Travel…really helps you grow up very quickly if you do it with an open mind and an adventurous attitude.” - Andy

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6 Questions with Andy

You’ve traveled an awful lot. Why Thailand?

I had this moment where I thought ‘Oh, well of course the fact that this mushroom only exists at a certain time of the year --this must be some kind of a keyhole for me to recognize the northern Thai regional cuisine. In a way it’s what keeps things special for me when I go back to Thailand, I know that I’m going to find something there --whatever time of year I go-- that I may only be able to get there, in that time. It just makes me want to go back again, and again, and again.

What surprises you most about Thailand?

People having pride in what they do, even if they’re surprised that a foreigner would be interested in this stuff. I also said earlier that most Thai folks view foreigners as incapable of understanding the food or even wanting it. Not being able to eat it. There’s a phrase they’ll ask that basically translates to, “Are you able to?” Not “do you want to?” — are you able?

You won a James Beard Award for your Saveur magazine essay “The Star of Siam: Thai Curries.” What’s the secret to a good curry?

The ingredients might seem disparate, but when you make one of the curries in these recipes, you discover that, through careful cooking, they come together into something delicious. It's not really difficult to make curries from scratch, but it takes patience. In Thai Buddhism, there's a word, sati. It means mindfulness. That's what making a curry takes.

You’re a huge fan of the city of Chiang Mai. What keeps you coming back again and again?

You can still drive down the road and find an incredible larb restaurant, with people cooking outside on a grill. The same type of food that’s been around for a long time. The temples are getting busier and more focused on collecting money to grow bigger, but they’re still old, beautiful temples. You still run into the old folks and a friendly vibe remains.

What Thai dish do you wish more people would try?

The reason I'm so passionate about the food that we do is that I really am trying to introduce dishes that you are unlikely to see in the United States...We're trying to do really damn faithful renditions of these dishes, which often aren't crowd pleasers filled with coconut milk and lime juice or anything like that. Those are the things I wish received the most attention. I want to get people interested in that.

Why do you think Thai food is so special?

It's exciting to the palate. You can eat at 20 farm-to-table restaurants, and things start to turn to finger paint. You paint with 20 colors and it all turns to brown. Everything starts tasting brown. How many times will you eat wild mushrooms with foie gras? All of a sudden you taste a chopped duck salad with lime, herbs and toasted rice, it's exciting. It's just palate fatigue, and I get that too with Thai food.