Deau Arpapornnopparat

The Climb

The move from there to ownership was cumulative rather than abrupt, shaped by experience, discipline, and a tighter sense of what she wanted her food to say. Today, Deau is chef-owner and chef of Holy Basil (since 2020), where that approach comes into focus: the restaurant functions as an extension of her own table, filtered through technique, memory, and the dishes she keeps returning to.

Today

At Holy Basil, the cooking speaks plainly and with control. Grandma's fish and rice is a pitch-perfect dish of hand-shredded local rockfish, grounded and generous without losing precision. The name carries the emotional weight of the plate, but the execution keeps it in the present. Moo krab has also drawn attention, and was recommended by LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison. Together, those dishes map Deau’s range: rooted in the recognizable, sharpened enough to make the familiar feel newly considered.

Signature

Deau's signature dishes include grandma's fish and rice, Thai shrimp aguachile, moo krab, wagyu gra pow, and crying tiger short ribs. Taken together, they show the range and pace of her kitchen: dishes that move between comfort and brightness, richness and heat, familiarity and surprise. The list is broad, but it feels deliberate, with each plate doing specific work inside a larger idea of what she likes to cook and what she wants guests to taste.

In Their Words “It's definitely what I like to eat … we're implementing a lot of what we grew up eating into the dishes.” “It's kind of a mix of everything, of my experience.”