Rob Lam
Chef
Robert Lam is the chef-owner of Perle in Oakland, CA, and the former owner of Butterfly in San Francisco, CA. The Vietnam-born chef calls what he does “Asian inspired delicious,” pulling from the culinary traditions of Vietnam, Thailand, China, Japan, and Korea. Chef Lam’s cooking is influenced by the seasons, as well as his mother who opened a Vietnamese restaurant just outside Los Angeles when the family landed in Southern California after the fall of Saigon. A graduate of the University of San Francisco and The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, Chef Lam moved back to California after graduation, where he took on a postgraduate fellowship with the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St Helena. In 2001, when Butterfly came up for sale, he decided to “swim in the big pond” and buy the waterfront restaurant on Pier 33. In 2009 Chef Lam dove into an even deeper pond by purchasing Eastside West, a lounge and restaurant located in the heart of San Francisco’s Marina district. Chef Lam opened Sammy’s Aloha in 2014, a Hawaiian farm-to-table takeout concept that quickly earned a following. Named a “Rising Star Chef” by the San Francisco Chronicle, January 2003, Chef Lam continues to pursue his culinary passions in Oakland, CA. Chef Lam is now at Lily on Clement in San Francisco, but catch Chef Lam on Sundays for brunch here at Perle.
Contact Chef Lam at chef@perlewinebar.com