Meaning “Sea” and inspired by its location, Talay is a “food truck” concept in an outdoor setting featuring authentic cuisine inspired by the street foods of Thailand.
Talay’s Chef Marc Narongchai Muangkaew has been recognized by Food & Wine Mexico as one of the best chefs in 2020. Chef Marc brings his passion for authentic Thai cuisine to each dish at Talay.
“I want to be a chef”, Marc told his mom when he was only 11 years old, fascinated with what he saw his mom was cooking. “I want to go to culinary school”, he insisted in his teens, even though his father disagreed. “He told me that wasn’t right, that I had to be a police officer or something else, more related to my gender”, remembers Marc, today 28 years old.
With his mother’s help, he went to culinary school in Bangkok when he turned 15. Later, he started his journey in San Francisco training in restaurants, a city he grew to love and made his permanent home in 2018. Following his time in the United States, he was invited to move to Los Cabos to open a pop-up restaurant specializing in Thai food at the Montage Los Cabos, by resort Executive Chef Xavier Salomon, which is how Talay became one of the destination favorites.
“In San Francisco I learned a lot about fine dining and technique. But at Talay we use the technique to highlight the flavor of each ingredient so everything you try is extraordinary”, says Marc about his cuisine, which is recognized for its curries and dishes such as Tom Kha Hedd mushroom soup.
This authentic “Street style” Thai restaurant was created by chef Soloman to add creativity to the dining scene in Los Cabos. As a world renown chef, Soloman has a love for the cuisine and the Thai people which led him to invite Marc to Los Cabos to open Talay. Initially designed as a pop-up restaurant, the popularity of the menu gained instant response by hotel guests and locals alike, and so Talay is now a full time, stationary staple of the culinary options Montage Los Cabos has to offer.
Chef Salomon was appointed executive chef of Montage Los Cabos in 2018. As a fifth-generation French Master Chef, Salomon draws his passion for food from his family tradition and European upbringing, which included training under Jo Rostang at his Michelin three-star restaurant La Bonne Auberge in Antibes, France. Throughout his impressive career, Salomon opened 22 Ritz-Carlton hotels around the world including Moscow and Beijing and mentored many of the company’s top chefs.
Salomon was awarded the 2017 “French Master Chef of the Year” award for USA-Canada by L’Association de Maîtres Cuisiniers de France.
Discover more about Talay’s success at the Montage Los Cabos.
