Why Bangkok’s chef Ton is trying to educate Thais about their own cuisine
- While other chefs were importing ingredients, Thitid Tassanakajohn, of Michelin-starred Le Du, set up a network of local producers
- ‘You can’t cook good food if you don’t have good local ingredients’, he says, something he learned in America
Tell us your earliest memories of food. “Every day my mother and grandmother cooked for me and my two younger brothers. My father passed away in a car accident when I was five years old so we were raised by my maternal grandparents. On Sundays, I learned to cook with my mum, things like spaghetti and meatballs, stir-fries with Thai basil, fried rice, pork with soy sauce and garlic. Cooking is fun.”
When did you decide to become a chef? “During my third year at college, in 2006, I went to the United States for a work and travel programme. Ten friends and I spent three summer months working at a hotel casino in Nevada. For some reason, maybe destiny, I was sent to the kitchen as a pizza boy. I really enjoyed everything about the kitchen.”
How did you get to culinary school? “Ten years ago no one wanted their kid to be a chef, itwas considered a labourer’s job. I graduated from Chulalongkorn University with a degree in economics and then worked in a bank on IPOs, but I quit after a month. I told my mum I wanted to become a chef. She said she would send me to culinary school after I finished my MBA. My grandparents and I had a big fight about it. I have to thank my mum for giving me a chance.”
What did your MBA focus on? “I studied the financial and administrative sides of hospitality. I wanted to open my own restaurantbut I didn’t have the skills or experience. I studied at the Culinary Institute of America [CIA] in 2008-09, and then interned in some top New York restaurants. Eleven Madison Park has a very creative kitchen. It was stressful because they demand perfection. I learned the most there. At The Modern, I learned a lot of technique. I worked at Jean-Georges for only three months as a busboy because I wanted to see how top restaurants do service.”
What were the challenges in opening Le Du? “I came back in 2013 and opened my restaurant right away. Le Du was actually my CIA graduation project. In my paper, I named the restaurant Le Du and said it would be about seasonal ingredients, 100 per cent local. When I opened it six years ago, everyone in Thailand was importing foie gras, uni and wagyu beef. People think local food is cheap street food and I wanted to change that. People around the world love Thai food, but people in our own country don’t value their own cuisine. For me, that’s sad.