A blazing fire, spices, and brilliant culinary skills, together with an endless love and uncompromising dedication to Thai cuisine have brought these great chefs together.
To Supinya ‘Jay Fai’ Junsuta, a 74-year-old roadside vendor who gained international fame as Bangkok’s first street-food stall to be awarded a MICHELIN star in 2018 till 2020, Thai food is passion. "It's the energy and flow to create these flavours from a charcoal fire."And above all, it’s life.
The wok master selects the finest ingredients and cooks every dish herself to her exacting standards. Seeing her trademark ski goggles in front of a pan of her world-renowned Kai Jeaw Poo (Thai Crab Omelette) is an enticing sight. It’s because of her incredible flavours that her humble shop house in the Pratu Pee neighbourhood has been one of Bangkok’s most-revered culinary institutions for the last 40 years.
Supaksorn ‘Ice’ Jongsiri fell in love with Southern Thai food from childhood. The 38-year-old chef remembers visiting his grandma, where he discovered the allure of traditional Southern Thai recipes. To him, food starts with love.
He reintroduces generations-old cooking techniques once thought lost and combines them with products sustainably sourced from local farmers and fishermen. Together with Chef Yodkwan “Yod” U-Pumpruk, his childhood friend, the Southern Thai culinary heritage lives on in amazing Southern Thai fine-dining experiences with months-long waits for reservations. All of this helped Sorn, with its bold-yet-sophisticated flavours, become one of the first traditional Thai restaurants in the world with two MICHELIN Stars.
The legendary Jay Fai talks about her collaboration with Sorn: “I’m glad and honoured to work with Ice. Personally, I am very fond of Southern Thai food, and I’ve admired Ice for quite some time. While many other wonderful places have asked me to collaborate with them, I wasn't ready to take that step. My shop is humble and simple. We can’t match the likes of MICHELIN Starred places like Sorn. We don’t have any measured recipes. We cook like ordinary cooks and homemakers. But this time I’ll give it my all. If it goes well, there might be future opportunities for us to work together again.”
Despite the age gap, Jay Fai and Ice both share a love for traditional Thai cuisine. “Jay Fai has more experience in cooking, and I never went to cooking school. But I practised a lot with my grandma. No one in my team ever attended any famous culinary institutes, but they all come from a Southern heritage. Yod also learned from his mom and grandma. I guess that’s something we have in common with Jay Fai. We want to showcase the charm of cooking with mortars, coals, and other techniques such as drying, milling, or cooking rice in clay pots. The more we travel in the South, the more we fall in love with its produce. Jay Fai is similar to us in that we all only choose the best ingredients, and we both stir-fry on charcoal stoves. This collaboration with Jay Fai reminds me of the times when I cooked with my grandma. It’s heartwarming. And although our presentations are different, the foundations are the same. We start with traditional Thai techniques. No modern or new methods.”
The owner and chef of Two MICHELIN Starred establishment also added, “I’m so excited about this MICHELIN Guide Dining Series. I have a lot of respect for Jay Fai. And, as for us, we are still young. We opened less than two years ago. I never thought we would be ready for any collaboration. Our priority is making our restaurant the best in every way. But Jay Fai is my inspiration. So it’s an honour to be working side-by-side with her. Our team will have the privilege to see her work and see a truly passionate chef in action. Even after winning One MICHELIN Star, she’s still striving to make every dish the best possible. More importantly, she is someone who talks about food with a smile on her face. That’s the inspiration I want my team to learn from.”
The debut edition of MICHELIN Guide Dining Series 2020 features canapés, amuse bouche, five starters, six main courses, and two desserts. The event is private (invitation-only). The dinners will be held on 17th and 18th March 2020 at Sorn Fine Southern Cuisine on Sukhumvit 26.
Perrier-Jouët Champagne Grand Brut NV
Mekhong Thai Sabai & Chang Beer
Brancott Estate Letter Series B Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Vintage 2018
Espresso “Espresso Leggero”, Cappuccino “Espresso Forte”, and Decaff “Espresso Decaffeinato”
Here’s What Our Inspectors Said About Jay Fai (1 MICHELIN Star)
Jay Fai is a place that both taxi drivers and foodies wax lyrical about and it’s easy to see why. Wearing her signature goggles, the local legend that is Jay Fai continues what her father started 70 years ago and makes crab omelettes, crab curries and dry congee.
Here’s What Our Inspectors Said About Sorn (2 MICHELIN Stars)
As two southern kids, Khun Ice and Chef Yod always dreamt of opening their own restaurant with a focus on long lost recipes and the art of local cuisine. In a reconstructed old house, Sorn is thematically inspired by the tropical forests of southern Thailand, while ingredients are sustainably sourced from a trusted network of farmers and fishermen. Cooking is refined and sophisticated and dishes mostly slow-cooked, with even the soup double-boiled for 6 hours.
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