Chef-Owner, Tuk Tuk Snack Shop, Lexington, KY

Sam Fore is a first-generation Sri Lankan-American chef from Lexington, Kentucky. She started a pop-up restaurant in 2016, after traditional Sri Lankan brunches in her home outgrew her dining room. Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites menus reflect Sam’s Sri Lankan upbringing in the American South. Her work has been featured in multiple national publications (including the cover of Food & Wine magazine) and she can be seen on PBS’s Somewhere South. Most recently, she was named as a 2023 finalist for Best Chef: Southeast by the James Beard Foundation, was selected as one of Southern Living’s 2020 Cooks of the Year, and listed as one of Plate’s 2018 Chefs to Watch. In 2023 she plans to open Tuk Tuk Snack Shop in Lexington, Kentucky. @tuktuklex