ASIN'S HOT SPOT

When it comes to food, Bangkok is shedding its cheap and cheerful image; the Thai capital is now a top destination for haute cuisine 

- Kee Foong

Bangkok has long been renowned for its street food. But increasingly, gourmets are turning their attention to its high-end restaurants, helped by the likes of the Michelin guide and Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. Leading the charge is a clutch of innovative, independent venues helmed by overseas-trained local chefs who are redefining what constitutes Thai food, elevating it to fine-dining status in the process.

One of the newest arrivals is Potong, a glamorous paean to the mixed Thai Chinese heritage of its founder Pichaya Utharntharm and the humming Chinatown district in which her forebears settled. Better known as Chef Pam, she conceived the idea for Potong after visiting the landmark 120-year-old Sino-Portuguese shophouse which now houses the restaurant with her father and grandfather; the building has belonged to four generations of their family, and they resumed possession of it after leasing it out commercially.

Nearly three years of painstaking, Covid-impacted renovations ensued, with restored period details juxtaposed against sleek additions. Five distinct zones offer guests a sensory journey that includes bars, the main dining room, private spaces and an alfresco rooftop. When the restaurant finally opened in 2021, it received rave reviews, earning a Michelin star in its first year of operation; it is currently booked out three months in advance.

Utharntharm says she has been cooking since she was a child, “for as long as I remember, taught by my perfectionist mother”. After obtaining a degree in communication and arts, she enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and “knew at that moment that I was born to cook”. A three-year stint at then threeMichelin-starred Jean-Georges in New York followed, an experience that she credits for her ability to marry French technique with Asian ingredients and flavours.