Photo by Davin Tarr

Another sad turn in the story of Thang Le, the Toki Underground chef who died last week just days before he was to open his own pop-up restaurant. The City Paper’s Chris Shott reports that the District Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that Le’s death was a suicide by hanging. Le was 31.

Before his death, Le had been planning on opening a pop-up Vietnamese restaurant called Pho U inside Montserrat House on Ninth Street NW.

There was an outpouring of memorials for Le last week, including a particularly touching take from TBD contributor Kim Chi Ha, who did not know the chef terribly well, but easily recognized his passion for cuisine. After Le’s funeral last Friday, Shott reports, his friends and fellow chefs gathered at BlackByrd on 14th Street NW and raised money for his family. Before going to work at the madly popular ramen house on H Street NE, Le had worked in the kitchens at Komi, Hank’s Oyster Bar and Momofuku in New York, as well as in restaurants in Spain and Singapore. Shott writes:

“He was super excited about food, just so into it,” says friend and fellow chef Aaron Silverman, a D.C. native who worked with Le at Momofuku. “Whether he was working at Iggy’s, one of the best restaurants in the world, or just grilling out at friends houses on Long Island in the summer, he was so passionate about it. He wanted to serve real food for real people, and he was an extremely fun loving guy.”

Speaking to DCist last week, Julien Shapiro of the Alexandria food emporium Society Fair remembered Le as “a dear friend and globe-trotting colleague whose epicurean dedication earned the envy and savory applause of those who shared his remarkable passion.”

Learning the nature of Le’s death is all the reminder one needs that there are many avenues of support for those contemplating suicide. In the District, the Kristin Brooks Hope Center offers a variety of resources, including a national hotline that can be reached at (800) 442-4673.