Turning a year older is always a cause for celebration, and when fine-dining Thai restaurant Nusara in Bangkok, Thailand, turned four in July of this year, chef-owner Thitid Ton Tassanakajohn and his brother, managing director and sommelier Tam Chaisiri Tassanakajohn, threw a birthday bash unlike any other. They invited seven of the top chefs and rising stars across the region to host a one-night culinary event. The theme? A massive street food party where each chef had to prepare popular street foods from their home countries.
The participating chefs were Peter Cuong Franklin, the chef-owner of Michelin-starred Anan Saigon in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Jordy Navarra, the chef-owner of Toyo Eatery in Manila, Philippines; Hans Christian, the chef-owner of August in Jakarta, Indonesia; Paul and Wayne Liew, the owners of famed zi char place Keng Eng Kee in Singapore; Kim Hock Su, the chef-patron of Michelin-starred Au Jardin in Penang, Malaysia; Eom Tae-jun, the chef-patron of Michelin-starred Solbam in Seoul, South Korea; and Johnson Wong, the chef-founder of Communal Table by Gen in Penang, Malaysia.
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On the evening of July 30, Nusara’s space (spread across four floors of a shophouse and with majestic views of the Wat Pho temple) was transformed to resemble the quintessential street food joints in Bangkok. Gone were the fancy tables and chairs; in their place were long tables with plastic tablecloths and stools that invited guests (including Tatler Singapore and Tatler Malaysia) to tuck into a multicultural feast where the Liew brothers, brought their signature Moonlight Hor Fun imbued with wok hei and crowned with egg yolk; Navarra served up an authentic version of the crispy pork sisig, a sizzling dish made with different parts of a pig, and a pork and pineapple empanada; and Su and Wong brought a taste of Penang with their respective dishes—salted fish gulai and century egg from the former, and guava rojak and Johor laksa by latter.
From the chef-host Ton himself, he spiced up the night further with hislaab mhoo tod (Thai-style fried pork balls) and seafood claypot dish. Freeflow Krug champagnes were also poured into silver tin mugs that clinked throughout the night, boosting the celebratory mood that marked another chapter in Nusara’s success story that started in 2020 as a way to pay homage to their late grandmother. As Ton shares, the cuisine here is “neither traditional nor modern” but something unique that represents their grandmother’s joyful characters. Some of the dishes served in the tasting menu, too, are recipes of their grandmother who instilled in them a love of food.
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Chef Ton and Jordy Navarra of Toyo Eatery in Manila
Chef-patron Kim Hock Su of Michelin-starred restaurant Au Jardin in Penang
Eom Tae-jun, the chef-patron of Michelin-starred Solbam in Seoul
Wayne Liew of Keng Eng Kee
Johor laksa
Moonlight hor fun
Pork sisig
The lauded restaurant Nusara is part of Ton’s expanding culinary empire which champions Thai cuisine and its many forms throughout the region. At Le Du (No. 12 on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024), his first fine-dining concept which opened more than a decade ago, he highlights the local farmers and their produce in his tasting menus that evolve with the seasons; at BK Salon, diners enjoy Thai and Western-influenced sharing dishes in a unique setting inspired by a sticky rice container; and over at Baan, home-cooked Thai meals based from family recipes are at the heart of the culinary team’s menus.
In the more than a decade that Ton has been a part of Thailand’s growing F&B industry, he is credited as one of the chefs who have changed diners’ perception of Thai cuisine to being more than just street food through his more than 10 F&B concepts in Thailand. He’s not stopping there though; come September 20, he is opening a new Thai restaurant and bar concept on the 56th floor of The Empire on Sathorn Building in Bangkok, along with Chinese chef Vicky Chef of Wing and Vea, who is set to launch an original concept overseas that redefines Chinese tradition. These concepts are part of the multi-concept space that is EA Chef's Table.
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Participating chefs at Nusara's 4th anniversary party
And if that isn’t keeping Ton busy enough, he is once again setting his sights overseas (after the closure of his restaurant Niras in Hong Kong) and expanding to Malaysia with a casual restaurant in Penang and another establishment in Kuala Lumpur next year. He is also opening in Beijing, China with a yet-to-be-announced concept planned for 2025. With a strong team behind him, Ton takes these all in a stride. “I want to highlight Thai food and the efforts to bring it to as many people as possible,” he shares. And this goes beyond the process of introducing Thai cuisine. “It’s about the experience when people visit your restaurant, whether it's casual or fine dining. If you represent Thai food well, people will come to love it at every level. That’s my main goal—promoting good Thai food in all its forms.”
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