AllWays Traveller Features
Bangkok’s Michelin stars
When it comes to cuisine, creativity is a much-celebrated approach and Bangkok's Michelin-starred restaurateurs are finding new inspiration to persevere in what is already being called the New Normal dining scene.
Hopefully, 'new normal' has yet to be defined, but meanwhile restaurants all over the world have to adapt by drawing upon their innovation and creativity. In Bangkok many chefs, both with Michelin honours or otherwise, are taking up these challenges with more attention being put on the environment, sustainability, and social distancing.
Above: Many regional Thai restaurants are also included in the 2021 Michelin Guide Thailand.
With the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) placing focus on the food sector as one of the key elements of the tourism industry's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Michelin Guide Thailand provides much-welcomed help in spreading this message internationally.
The recently released fourth edition of the Guide features many innovative restaurants and eateries throughout Thailand, including more than 150 in Bangkok. The listings reflect, as the Guide states, "the courage and resilience of chefs that have given their best to face this unprecedented crisis."
The following Bangkok restaurants are among those considered to have demonstrated resilience or best practice:
Rongros, a Michelin Plate eatery, serves traditional Thai cuisine – think green curry with rib eye beef served with roti and tangy glass noodle salad – with a creative gastronomical flair.
Guests are still welcome to sit and eat in the restaurant, which has rearranged its indoor dining area to provide for social distancing in accordance with the Ministry of Public Health's guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. For those who really want social distancing in an outdoor environment, a table on the terrace can be booked, complete with stunning views of famous Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) to savour.
Blue by Alain Ducasse, a one-star restaurant in the 2021 Michelin Guide Thailand, also continues to allow dine-in service in its rearranged dining area but has adjusted its operating hours and is open for service until 9pm only, with last orders taken at 8pm.
Chef's Table, which navigated the pleasant difficulty of managing promotion from one-star to two-star Michelin status in the 2021 guide, has its kitchen located right in the middle of the restaurant, affording diners a ringside view of the culinary action.
lebua.com/restaurants/chefs-table
The 2021 Michelin Guide Thailand for the first time this year also features a new distinction – the Michelin Green Star – for restaurants that embody and embrace sustainability in their day-to-day operations. The awarding of this star takes into consideration such aspects as recycling, food waste reduction and promotion of local and seasonal ingredient sourcing.
Rong Sabiang is an example of this, although the restaurant didn't make the latest Michelin guide. It's an all-day dining venue in the Phra Khanong area and has next to it a green space reserved for organic farming and shops selling freshly picked produce. Diners at this greenhouse-themed restaurant that serves Thai and international dishes can enjoy farm-to-table cuisine in a setting akin to an old English garden house decorated with plants, vinyl record players, books and old radios and furnished with vintage chairs and tables.
The menu highlights the produce that's grown in the adjacent garden and reflects the management's vision of giving back to the community by helping to create a delightful neighbourhood with green spaces for all to enjoy.
Photos: Tourism Authority of Thailand
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