FINE DINING
Wisdom, Nahm, Saneh Jaan and Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin) will likely be even busier in the future. As will Bib Gourmands such as Tip Samai, with its delicious pad thai, and Go-Ang Kaomunkai Pratunam, whose succulent chicken rice is a local favourite. But it was French fine dining and
progressive Indian that were the cuisines to scoop two stars. Go to Le Normandie at the Mandarin Oriental for elegant haute cuisine or to chef Ryuki Kawasaki’s Mezzaluna on the 65th floor of the State Tower for organic and innovative dishes. Meanwhile, if you’d like to watch your dining companions eating with their hands and licking their plates, chef Gaggan Anand’s progressive and irreverent Indian cuisine at Gaggan delivers entertaining surprises. While international chefs are at
70
the helm, it’s mostly Tai chefs who work behind the scenes. “My first challenge, when I arrived more than five years ago, was to teach my Tai staff to cook French style,” says French chef Arnaud Dunand-Sauthier. “Today is a victory for the restaurant, but more for my staff and the people of Tailand. We show that Tai people can cook anything.” Te cross-cultural theme is pushed to its limit at Mezzaluna, where Japanese chef Ryuki cooks French food in the Tai capital. And as chef Gaggan said, “I think Michelin proves you can be a global citizen and win here. You can cook what you want to cook. If I can get a star then anyone can, nothing is impossible in this city.”
Ga an sa , I th I can g kM
you can be a global cit cook
you w sible i
Case in point: several international
chefs have specialised in Tai food in Bangkok. Michelin’s Ellis called Danish chef Henrik Yde Andersen a pioneer for his innovation at the now one-starred Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin. “Tailand adopted me,” says Yde
Andersen, humbly. “I was trained as a French chef, then came out here where there are no rules, and that’s what I love about Tai cuisine – sugar in the main, salt in the dessert.” Similarly, the Australian patriarch of Tai cuisine David Tompson, who won his first Michelin star six months aſter opening Nahm at Te Halkin, don, i 2001, pick
London, in 2001, picked up anotherher for his Ban
star for his Bangkok restaurant, ing the g theri g i
thanking the gathering in fluent Tai.i.
questionions, some absences, as Michel
helin
finds its feet, commented mpson
Tompson later.
Scro linglling throughug socia
80/20, whe Napol
chef Na ol ndrew
accla chef T
al media, 20, where
Tai iingredients to highs to hi accla m, as we as LeDu chef Titid “Ton” Tassan
Jantra et and chef A rew Martin mix Western dishes with n
raget and chef rt mix die
aiim, as well as Le Du, where sanakajohn
reinvents Tai dishes, seeishes, se med two of the most missed. Te e is a
of the mos
“Tere is always passio aſterwards, which of cour
of v
aſterwards, which of course we welcome,” says Ellis. “We of view, we don’t p ha e the t
ys passionate debate e have a point
t pretend to
have the truth. Te ‘Oh no
‘Oh no they missed my favourite!’ conv con ersations are n are normal. We would be
one car pleased are pass
NOVEMB ER 2018 N OV NO E MNOV MB O V EM B E R 2 0 011 8
concerned if no one cared – we’re d people
conce
are pa sionate about t
about their food.”
LEFT: Known for its modern take on traditional Thai dishes, Nahm at COMO Metropolitan Bangkok uses robustly flavoured ingredients ABOVE: Le Normandie at the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, offers contemporary French cuisine RIGHT: Beautifully crafted beetroot roses at progressive Indian restaurant Gaggan
s its feet,” ente
“Tere are some nces, as
ere are some
If Miche Michelin’s presence reflects th incre as
s the city’s
increasingly sophisticated gastron
nomic scene, the
culina culinary landscape reflects the passion residen
refle
reside ts and visitors have fo
have for eating here. “Ban
“Bangkok is boomiin oo Su ng,” say the
aſter being open less t “Ten years ago there w
“T years a
restaurant Suhrin ei
German cuisin nt Su
Tom and Mathias, whose contemporary ne riverside
Suhring brothers Tomas a
ing won a star
open les than two years. e wasn’t such a
variety of restaurants that would have deserved one or two stars.”
Michelin also created guides to
Guangzhou and Taipei in 2018. “We have a road map, literal and figurative, with cities of gastronomic interest,” says Ellis. “Te bottleneck for us is our ability to identify and recruit, train and deploy inspectors.” Tis bizarre situation (who wouldn’t
want to be a Michelin Guide inspector?) comes with some hard truths of just what it takes. “You have to be obsessed with food,” emphasises Ellis. “It is a very technical job and we need people who have highly developed palates. You need the ability to taste and translate what is happening on your
“Chefs who want to be part of the Michelin universe are part athlete, part artist”
→ busine s s tr a v eller .com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176
