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New Hong Kong Thai restaurant Plaa’s award-winning chefs on learning from others and the ‘different experience’ of local seafood they offer

Chefs Ian Kittichai of Bangkok’s Issaya Siamese Club, and Richie Lin of one-Michelin-star Mume in Taipei, collaborate for the second time in this new restaurant

The two reveal how they bonded through similar experiences and outlooks, and what inspired them to elevate Hong Kong’s best local catches with Thai flavours

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Gillardeau Oyster, tom kha, and aromatic oil at Plaa. Hong Kong’s new fine-dining Thai restaurant is the brainchild of award-winning chefs Ian Kittichai and Richie Lin. The two open up about how they met, and inspirations behind their unique take on local seafood. Photo: Plaa

Published: 12:41pm, 18 Oct 2022

“I always saw Ian [Kittichai] as an icon, a mentor, one of the biggest names in Thai cuisine,” says Richie Lin, the chef-owner of Taipei’s Mume restaurant.

“When I got started in the kitchen, he was already a renowned international chef. I remember the first time I ate at his restaurant [Issaya Siamese Club, in Bangkok, in 2016], I still hadn’t met him. And it was one of the best meals I’d had.”

Lin eventually met Kittichai the way many rising stars of the culinary world come face to face with their idols – at the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards.

From 2014 to 2018, Kittichai’s much lauded Issaya Siamese Club ranked in the top 50 list, and it has gained recognition in the Michelin Guide Bangkok.

Chefs Ian Kittichai and Richie Lin at their new restaurant Plaa, in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood. Photo: Jonathan Wong

“We met the first time Bangkok held the awards, back in 2016. We didn’t interact a lot, because sometimes it could be quite intimidating to see him as a friend,” says Lin, before breaking into a cheeky grin. “I’m a little bit younger, so I normally hang out with younger chefs …”