September 21, 2026
Gault&Millau regularly introduces you to exceptional chefs working in Czech restaurants awarded our toques.
Behind the perfect plate that arrives at your table lies not only precise technique and high-quality ingredients, but above all, a personality. Who are the chefs creating these unforgettable gastronomic experiences for you?
In this series, we reveal a more personal side of the people behind the food. You’ll discover where they come from, what inspired them to become chefs and the journey that brought them to their current positions at Gault&Millau-awarded restaurants. But there’s more – we also find out who they are when they take off their chef’s jacket, how they spend their free time, what gives them energy and which little essentials they always keep close at hand, wherever they go.
Meet Khanh Ta, chef of Prague’s Taro restaurant and winner of the Gault&Millau Chef of Tomorrow 2026 award.
1. Who is Khanh Ta?
A dad, husband, climber and traveller.
2. What did you study?
Electrical engineering.
3. How long have you been cooking, and what was your journey into the profession?
Since I was about ten. I started by helping my parents in the kitchen and cooking for family celebrations, then moved on to helping out in restaurants run by friends and eventually cooking in my own restaurant.
But I actually got into professional cooking somewhat out of necessity. We couldn’t find a chef for Gao Den and the opening date was getting closer, so I had to take it on myself.
4. How or where did you learn to really cook?
Anyone who wants to cook and has a reasonably good palate can cook. The harder part is cooking in a way that actually works in a professional kitchen. That’s something you learn as you go, through your own mistakes.
So if you ask me when I learned to really cook, the answer is: I haven’t yet. I’m still learning, and I’ll be learning for the rest of my life.
5. What piece of advice do you live by?
It’ll be fine.
6. Has anyone ever given you bad advice?
I’m sure they have, often. But I immediately erase bad advice from my mind, so I don’t remember any of it.
7. When and why did you decide to dedicate your career to Vietnamese fine dining?
After spending some time cooking traditional Vietnamese cuisine and realising just how much potential it has.
8. How would you describe the concept of Taro?
Taro is an intimate restaurant with just twenty seats arranged around an open kitchen. We serve the food ourselves and introduce each course to our guests as we go.
I draw on traditional Vietnamese recipes, transforming them into contemporary dishes, and I also like incorporating Czech ingredients. A personal approach is very important to us, as is making our guests feel comfortable and genuinely welcome. To me, that is an essential part of Vietnamese hospitality.
9. Where do you look for inspiration?
Vietnam and Thailand.
10. What do you most enjoy eating?
Chicken and rice.
11. Who cooks at home, and what?
My wife. She cooks home-style Vietnamese food. I occasionally make something Czech.
12. What do you most enjoy cooking?
From Vietnamese cuisine, thịt kho – caramelised pork belly with egg. And from Czech cuisine, beef goulash.
13. Have you noticed any changes since receiving the award?
It has changed the way I think about the mark I can leave behind – and reminded me that I should never let up, but keep improving.
14. What’s your guilty pleasure?
Anything fried, whether savoury or sweet.
15. What do you think about cookbooks?
I’m not really a book person, but old cookbooks can be a great source of inspiration. New ones don’t interest me at all.
16. What kind of music do you listen to?
Pretty much everything except rap, depending on my mood. When I need to calm down, I listen to classical music. For relaxing, it’s the ’80s and ’90s, and for sport, DnB.
17. How do you relax?
Travelling and sport.
18. What do you wear when you’re not in your chef’s jacket?
I like sportswear, so you’ll only see me in a jacket and shirt a few times a year.
19. Where do you see yourself in ten or twenty years?
Ideally, I’ll have all the restaurants running like clockwork by then, so I can just travel the world and, health permitting, keep doing sport.
20. Do you have a tip for who might take over the Chef of Tomorrow title after you?
I think it should be Martin Štangl.
21. What is underappreciated in Czech gastronomy?
Everyone in the industry who puts their heart into what they do is underappreciated. Whether it’s a chef or a cleaner, it’s a tough profession, both physically and mentally.
22. What do you think is missing in the Czech Republic?
I think diners need a much better understanding of how restaurants actually work – both the positive and the negative sides. How a kitchen operates, the journey ingredients take before reaching the restaurant, how hygiene and quality are managed, the costs involved, how employees are looked after, and so on.
If you work in gastronomy, you can usually walk into a restaurant, read the menu and already have a pretty good idea of what to expect, what you can confidently order and what you might prefer to avoid. The average diner doesn’t recognise these things.
If people become better informed, there will be fewer poor-quality restaurants – and people will appreciate the good ones much more.
What can’t Khanh Ta do without?
Knife – This is my all-purpose knife. I use it for almost everything.
Keys – I have keys to the restaurant and my locker, plus a chip for the climbing gym I go to before work.
Ruler – We use it for drawing lines and ticking off guests.
Marker pen – We need to keep track of all our guests’ allergies, intolerances and preferences.
Chopsticks – I use them for tasting or instead of tweezers, like a proper Vietnamese chef.
Small pocket knife – We use it for opening boxes or vacuum bags. It’s a handy little thing we always keep close by.
Mould – We printed this ourselves on a 3D printer.
Toasted sandwich – Made from a bread roll or bread. I’m the kind of person who can eat the same thing every day, so I genuinely have two of these ready for me every single day. Working as a chef often means you simply don’t have time to eat. I always have these close at hand.
A box of fruit
