“I chase street food across continents, believing that the best table is often a wobbly plastic stool, and the best reviews involve texture, temperature, and a healthy dose of self-deprecating honesty.”
Hi, I’m Marcus Chen, and I’m 37 going on eternally hungry. After three years of 80-hour weeks in a James Beard-nominated kitchen, I realized the real culinary magic happens outside the fine dining circuit. Since 2015, I’ve been documenting my obsession with street food, food markets, and regional home cooking across 85+ countries. I write honest, knowledgeable guides I’ll tell you exactly why that $4 banh mi changed my life, and why the ‘famous’ tourist-trap pasta was a crime against wheat. My food philosophy is simple: prestige means nothing; the cook’s passion means everything. I speak conversational Mandarin, Spanish, French, and terrible Italian—but I always try the local hot sauce.
🔗Portland, Oregon, USA
🏠 Married to Emma (freelancer) .
🎓 Culinary School Graduate, Le Cordon Bleu, Paris (2012)
🏅Credibility & Awards
- ✅Contributor to Travel + Leisure, Saveur, and Food & Wine
- ✅Culinary School Graduate (Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, 2012)
- ✅85+ countries visited, focused on local eating
- ✅Former Line Cook at James Beard-Nominated Restaurant
Call to Action
Stop eating tourist traps! Join my weekly newsletter for the definitive guides to budget street food and authentic local spots in the world’s most vibrant cities.