Bangkok’s best: The Thai legends
In Bangkok’s thriving culinary scene, two Thai chefs stand out — Thitid Tassanakajohn fondly known as Chef Ton and Pichaya Soontornyanakij known as Chef Pam.
Chef Ton is the executive chef and owner of Le Du, Baan, Nusara, Mayrai and many more. His mother and grandmother’s flavors have contributed to his passion for cooking. He studied at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America and continued on to receive an MBA in Hospitality from Johnson & Wales University.
Ton has worked at several Michelin-starred restaurants including Eleven Madison Park and Jean Georges. His love for wine also led him to become a certified sommelier from the respected Court of Master Sommelier.
Le Du, which means “season,” has one Michelin star and was ranked fourth in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021. Nusara was ranked 20 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021, making him the only Thai chef that had two restaurants on the prestige of Asia’s 50 best restaurants list. The judge on the television show Top Chef Thailand is a key figure in promoting Thai cuisine globally.
I had eaten in Le Du before but never had his tasting menu till recently. His dishes use the freshest seasonal Thai produce. A staple on his menu, which I had a couple of years ago, is the Thai river prawn, which is a large grilled prawn prepared to highlight its meat and fat. Aside from the vegetables and seafood offered, his current menu highlights the dry-aged duck served with beef tendon and roasted chili.
His other awarded restaurant is the one Michelin-starred Nusara. He calls the food here “colorful Thai cuisine,” which is neither traditional nor modern. The food served here represents his grandmother, where modern times and history are aligned. The menu consists of several interesting “bites” that continue to the main courses served family style. Nusara’s sommelier is Tam Chaisiri Tassanakajohn, also managing director and Ton’s brother. There also is a bar on the ground floor called Nuss.
Restaurant Potong is a Thai-Chinese fine dining restaurant in Bangkok’s Chinatown, owned by Chef Pam. The one Michelin-starred restaurant is located in a five-story family shop house that was once their Chinese herbal medicine shop. The food served here reflects the progressive Thai-Chinese cuisine that tells the story of Chef Pam’s family history.
Chef Pam was named Asia’s Best Female Chef 2024 by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and Potong is ranked 13 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list for 2025. Her Thai-Chinese cuisine focuses on Chef Pam’s five elements — salt, acid, spice, texture, and the Maillard reaction, which is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars to create the compounds that give browned food its distinctive flavor.
Her tasting menu is as delicious as presented. Each course is explained and ingredients are presented in an artful manner. The restaurant does provide a card for guests to choose whether they want the food explained thoroughly, lightly, or not explained at all. This is a unique trick I have not experienced in any other restaurant.
I have tried Pam’s food before when she visited Manila and had a four-hands dinner with our very own Miko Calo and the meal was more than amazing. This is the first time I had her tasting menu and it was really more than excellent. Her current “Revolution” menu has each dish tell a story — history, memory, heritage. This is also, like Chef Ton, highlighted by her special 14-day- aged duck. The Atlantic sea bass and her unique version of Pad Thai stood out as well.
Both Ton and Pam have established themselves as legends in Thai cooking. Aside from their multiple awards, their restaurants are pretty much booked most of the time so when planning a trip to Bangkok, reserve ahead of time to have some of the most unforgettable meals one can ever have. *
(For reservations, go to https://www.ledubkk.com/reservation and https://www.restaurantpotong.com/reservation.)
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