Mawn’s Phila and Rachel Lorn are on a roll with a new restaurant and two prestigious “best of” nods

Phila and Rachel Lorn are having a good year, and a spectacular week.

The husband and wife team behind Mawn are fresh off a James Beard Awards win in June — with Phila claiming the award for “Emerging Chef” — and this week, they’ve opened up their new restaurant, Sao, to much buzz.

That’s great, but Phila also grabbed another “Best New Chef” title from Food & Wine Magazine, earning a spot on their annual list. (By the way, if you don’t know how to pronounce his name by now, that’s on you.) And to top it off, the New York Times put Mawn on its list of best restaurants of 2025. (Philly’s Meetinghouse also made the Times’ list.)

The mom-and-pop pair have found success homing in on cozy vibes and family-inspired recipes — with Chef Phila drawing upon flavors from his Cambodian heritage and Rachel running front-of-house operations with a rare mixture of precision and warmth.

Making the New York Times and Food & Wine lists

So what did two of the country’s most prestigious outlets say about Mawn, the self-described “noodle house with no rules?”

The Times’ Brett Anderson singled out the noodle house’s boar prahak and banh chow crepe salad and its knack for creating “bright, salty, sour” dishes. 

“The restaurant embodies so much of what’s appealing about Philadelphia’s B.Y.O. restaurant scene,” Anderson wrote, “walking in with a bottle or two under your arm underscores how much the dining room — overseen by Rachel Lorn, Mr. Lorn’s business partner and wife — feels like a domestic space.”

Food & Wine noted that its journalists visit hundreds of restaurants in order to find “the most promising and dynamic chefs right now.” Then, the outlet’s food writers narrow down the final selection to 10 chefs.

The magazine lauded Phila’s ability to tap “into his Cambodian roots” and spin “them up in a freewheeling, joyful twister that incorporates the flavors of Southeast Asia, Philadelphia, and beyond.”

The chef responded to the Food & Wine mention in a statement. 

“Being named a ‘Best New Chef’ was a dream I never allowed myself,” Phila said. “Sometimes dreams just come true, and it’s out of your control. It’s a huge honor and I’m in some good company.”

How now, renown Sao?

Running one successful restaurant is hard enough. With all these recent accolades, all eyes are on the Lorns to see if they’ll put it off again with Sao. 

While Mawn was all about the couple’s familial roots, Sao gets back to their professional beginnings.

The couple met while working at Zama in 2011. Although Sao isn’t a sushi restaurant, its menu revolves around raw seafood. Billed as “an oyster, crudo, and cocktail bar,” the concept draws flavor inspiration from South Philly and Southeast Asia. The name Sao — coined by Phila’s mom — is a playful nod to that cultural mashup.

You can also find nostalgic keepsakes at the back bar, such as Jewish deli counter scales and an old register from Rachel’s grandparents’ Jersey Shore motel.

Menu items include bang island curry mussels, soft shell shrimp with thai basil and chili, multiple crudos, oyster selections and something known as “honey butter hoe cakes.” 

Like Mawn, the space is intimate and cozy. Rachel Lorn contrasted Sao’s vibe with the former spot to the Inquirer’s Michael Klein, describing Mawn as “you’re coming into my house and I’m going to feed you, whereas [Sao] is like, ‘I decorated the house and I’m throwing a party.’ We’re getting a little more dressed up here.”

Securing a reservation at either Mawn or Sao might take some patience. Certainly, with all this buzz, the duo might just be revving up for a Michelin Star.

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