Parnass Savang
Talat Market | Atlanta
FEBRUARY 2018
Parnass Savang was born in San Diego to hard-working immigrant parents from Bangkok, Thailand, and Vientiane, Laos. His family moved to Duluth, Georgia—right outside Atlanta—when he was 2, and a short three years later he was working in the family business: a Thai restaurant that catered to American tastes. Savang washed dishes, picked cilantro, and eventually waited tables. And he hated it. Eventually, inspired by Gordon Ramsay’s U.K. “Kitchen Nightmares” (of all shows), Savang started to feel the pull toward the kitchen.
He cooked throughout his two semesters at Valdosta State University and went on to study at The Culinary Institute of America. After graduation, he returned to Atlanta and began to cook in some of the city’s best restaurants, including Hugh Acheson’s Empire State South, Miles Macquarrie’s Kimball House, and Staplehouse with Ryan Smith. With each restaurant, Savang deepened his ties with Georgia farmers and a vision for his own project soon crystallized.
Seeing a lack of good Thai restaurants in Atlanta, Savang studied cookbooks by David Thompson and Andy Ricker and decided he would make heartfelt, no-compromise Thai food with local ingredients. In 2017, Savang debuted Talat Market pop-up. Open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—and to immediate success—Atlantans form lines around the block to experience his nuanced crudos, funky fresh salads, and made-from-scratch curries. In less than a year, he earned Eater’s 2017 “Chef of the Year” and a StarChefs Rising Stars Award.
