Wan Dah “Uncle Tai” began learning the cooking trade at age 13 in Shanghai. After apprenticing for more than 10 years with the master chefs of Hunan-style cuisine, he arrived in New York in 1967 and soon earned the accolades of sophisticated food critics such as Craig Claiborne, who dubbed him one of New York’s finest chefs.Regarded as the high priest of Hunan cooking, Uncle Tai moved to Houston in 1979 to open his own restaurant. From there, he soon opened up a restaurant in Dallas. Then in 1987, he opened up Uncle Tai’s in Boca Raton, and then 1993 in Atlanta.