Haxohhr Mangxo
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“We were nervous. We were scared. And we did not know what would happen next.” Chef Pichaya Soontornyanakij aka Pam is disarmingly honest when she discusses opening her restaurant POTONG in Bangkok.
She took a lot of risks. The restaurant was set in the Chinatown neighbourhood, in a timeworn building from where her family ran her herbal-medicine business for five generations – not a conventional setting for fine dining. In addition to that, she decided to focus on a menu built around progressive Thai cuisine and her Chinese roots. And, opening in 2021 meant she had to grapple with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chef Pam
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
She need not have worried. POTONG got its first Michelin star in 2023, and Pam was named Asia’s Best Female Chef 2024 by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. Diners now travel from all over the world to eat at the restaurant, which is redefining fine dining in Thailand.
This month, Pam will be in India, travelling through Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai with her pop up menu, built in collaboration with Manisha Bhasin, corporate executivechef, ITC Hotels. With six courses in total, three done by each chef, the dinner aims to give diners a culinary interpretation of destinations and culture. A way to travel through memories and space with food.
Discussing how she decided to open POTONG in her family’s heritage building, Pam says she explored the space with her father when she was looking for a location. “As we walked from floor to floor I had goosebumps. It is like a living museum. For me, this is the perfect place to show my craft, to really show what I have learnt over my years of cooking.”
Naga mushroom with roasted tomato and chili
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Pam says they fought hard to stand out, right from the beginning. “I think it is because we were nervous and scared of being the same as other restaurants, we worked on doing something super different. We try to create something that is very innovative and very experiential – that is what makes us what we are today. The awards come from us pushing boundaries, and from hard work.”
The menu, like the space, is shaped by her family. “Most of my cooking is influenced by my mom. She usually cooks what my dad loves to eat – he’s half Australian and half Thai, while my mom is Chinese. So she would make noodles with pork gravy, a lot of pad thai, the best oxtail stew, but also dishes like bolognese.”
For the Indian pop up, Pam says “We want to bring a glimpse of what we do at POTONG, along with a touch of Indian flavours. Travelling with a team of six people from Thailand, the chef will be pairing her food with Chef Manisha’s menu, which is going to be based on the North East.
Chef Manisha Bhasin
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
“We felt that it is important that we get into a similar belt – there are some similar ingredients, like fermented beans. This also is a change for for us to showcase the North East,” says Manisha, adding that they will be using some unique and foraged ingredients, like sawtooth coriander, fiddlehead ferns, axone and roselle. “We have also added millets to the menu – because I wanted to showcase that millets can also be presented in a progressive way,” adds Manisha.
Expect familiar flavours presented with a twist. “I would call it a rendition of northeastern cuisines,” says Manisha, adding, “When we were doing our research, we were surprised at how beautifully the ingredients and food unfurled on the plate.”
The pop up dinner is priced at ₹ 35,000 per head, including taxes. It will be at the ITC Maurya New Delhi on August 18, ITC Grand Chola in Chennai on August 19 and the ITC Maratha in Mumbai on August 20.
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