After the highly successful collaboration between the world-renowned Jay Fai and Chef Supaksorn ‘Ice’ Jongsiri from Sorn in the first MICHELIN Guide Dining Series of 2020, MICHELIN Guide Thailand is pleased to welcome you to the second dinner event. Featuring youngbloods who have pioneered modern Thai cuisine like Chef Thitid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn of Le Du and Chef Napol ‘Joe’ Jantraget and Chef Saki Hoshino from 80/20, the dinner will highlight the abundant harvest Thailand has to offer this lush rainy season.
Fine Thai cuisine is known for showcasing the seasonal, bountiful resources from Mother Nature. It is such an exciting occasion to have not just one but two MICHELIN-Starred restaurants joining forces to serve up this season’s top dishes.
An avid traveller in search of his next kitchen experiment and with over a decade in French commercial kitchens in Toronto, Canada, Chef Joe shares his love for innovation when it comes to creating new menus. He enjoys adding complex, appealing flavour profiles and textures to the food while preserving the essence of being genuinely Thai.
“Our cuisine is rooted in history. Many of our local ingredients are one of a kind. I believe Thai food is among the world’s best,” said Chef Joe.
Regarding Chef Ton of Le Du, Chef Joe said: “He’s one of the people who has modernised Thai cuisine. We both have different ways and ideas of interpreting Thai cuisine. Chef Ton’s green curry and ours would not be the same, and no one will be right or wrong -- it will just be different.”
80/20 is internationally recognised as an innovative Thai restaurant, using 80% locally sourced and 20% imported ingredients. However, currently the chefs are using almost 100% Thai ingredients, mingling together the characteristics and qualities from all over Thailand. The same goes with their approach for this special evening.
“We strongly believe that each season in Thailand offers something totally different from others. As for the rainy season, there are many ingredients that are available only at this time of the year.” said Chef Joe.
“At 80/20, we collect detailed data and information about our ingredients. We believe the mood and needs of our guests will also be affected by the season. This is fun for us.”
Applying the impressive skills he acquired from world-renowned kitchens in New York City, including Eleven Madison Park, The Modern, and Jean-Georges, to contemporary Thai cuisine, Chef Ton chose to open his own establishment in Bangkok, serving the freshest seasonal ingredients, hence the name Le Du (“season” in Thai).
The monsoon season produces a scrumptious variety. “Our rainy season offers ample choices of fruits and vegetables. Many would be at their prime between summer and rainy season. Durian, langsat, mangosteen, or santol. The fruits of the rainy season are so refreshing. Also, only in this season we have delicacies like pak wan (star gooseberry) or hed khone (termite mushrooms).”
Chef Ton is thrilled to be collaborating with the pair from 80/20 for the first time, as he knows they are equally keen on cultivating Thai traditional kitchen wisdom, especially fermentation techniques, and locally sourced ingredients.
“I am eager to learn,” Chef Ton claimed. “The styles of Le Du and 80/20 are similar, but the approaches are different. We both use locally sourced ingredients. Our foods are referred to as modern Thai cuisine, but the presentations are totally different.”
For chefs, honourable guests are indeed the focal point of their hard work and efforts. Chef Ton emphasised that both Le Du and 80/20 attempt to create a smooth and impressive dining experience, just like a well-orchestrated symphony.
“We had rounds of talk before agreeing on what should be a good sequence for the many courses we are serving. We want to create a remarkable food journey that represents the rainy season of Thailand on the table,” said Chef Ton.
Chef Joe agreed: “We are excited to work on this collaboration to offer the best of the rainy season. We believe most guests will appreciate warm food and flavours that will comfort them even more. We also believe in the medicinal benefits of foods such as onion, garlic, and turmeric, which will protect the guests from the flu during this rainy season.”
The three young chefs said with a smile that they are really looking forward to the event and hope that their guests will enjoy the food as much as they have been enjoying designing the whole menu, dedicated to rainy season of Thailand.
The second edition of MICHELIN Guide Dining Series 2020 features five courses, including two appetisers and two main courses. This special wine dinner is a private event and will be held at Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel Bangkok on the nights of 29 and 30 September 2020 (invitations only).
AMUSE-BOUCHES
Beetroot and Chicken (Le Du)
Prawn Ceviche with Jacima (80/20)
1ST COURSE
Local Red Snapper, Langsat and Micro Vegetables of Monsoon Season (Le Du)
2ND COURSE
Steamed Curry Crab Eggs with Local Caviar Crab Nam Prik Pao, Flavours of Alliums, Seagrapes, Seabites, Purslane, Bitter Orange (80/20)
3RD COURSE
Squid, Its Ink & Lemongrass (Le Du)
4TH COURSE
Northern Style Grilled Beef and Mushroom Salad (80/20)
5TH COURSE
Collaborated Main Courses
Roasted Chicken Thigh Stuffed with Caramelised Green Banana Chilli and Cashew Nuts Glaze (80/20)
Slow Cooked Chicken Breast, Smoked Pumpkin and Tribal Curry Served with Steamed Rice (Le Du)
Served with jasmine rice
DESSERT
Mulberry, Lotus and Ginger (80/20)
Accompanied by evian and Badoit
Nespresso Coffee Selections:
Espresso “Espresso Leggero”. Cappuccino “Espresso Forte”,
And Decaff “Espresso Decaffeinato"
Using his experience from working at NYC’s Eleven Madison Park, chef “Ton” Thitid creatively re-interprets Thai cuisine, with a rotating seasonal menu – Le Du comes from a Thai word meaning ‘season’. In summer, highlights include their signature Khao Chae, as well as Khao Khluk Kapi; the organic rice, cooked with salty aromatic shrimp paste and pork jam, is served with perfectly done river prawns. A relaxed ambience makes this a welcome retreat for diners.
Here’s What Our Inspectors Said About 80/20 (One MICHELIN Star)
Chefs Jo and Saki have travelled far and wide throughout Thailand, discovering novel ingredients and new cooking techniques that now inform their innovative, exciting approach to traditional Thai cuisine. Folksy ingredients such as caviar-sized aquatic flowering plants found in rural ponds, known as Asian watermeal, and black chicken from the Northeast feature prominently, along with koji-fermented fish sauce, produced in their own fermentation lab.
