Cooking Up A Storm
One of Asia’s most in-demand Michelin-starred chefs still cooks in a building built by her great-great-grandfather.
When navigating the numerous narrow sois stemming from Bangkok’s Yaowarat Road, one could easily be forgiven for walking right past one of Asia’s most-sought-after dining destinations, the sole giveaway being the minimalist monochrome signage that quietly sits slightly incongruously alongside the building’s original century-old frontage.
Potong is helmed by chef Pichaya ‘Pam’ Soontornyanakij and housed in a Sino-Portuguese-style shophouse built by her great-great-grandfather over 100 years ago, a five-storey space that formerly served as the family’s Chinese medicine store.
A painstaking two-and-a-half-year process saw the building restored and revived while respectfully retaining many of its original features. One of the most prominent faces in Thailand’s culinary scene, Pam opened Potong in 2021 and she has accumulated an avalanche of accolades since, cementing her position as one of the region’s most respected and talented chefs. Potong received both a Michelin star and The Michelin Opening of the Year Award a mere two years after its inception, making Pam the first female chef to achieve such an accomplishment.
Melding meticulous technique, gleaned from her time in New York under the tutelage of Jean-Georges Vongerichten at his eponymous three-starred restaurant, with the Thai-Chinese cuisine of her ancestry, Potong manages to maintain age-old methods and traditions and effortlessly marry them with a contemporary culinary approach. Dining at Potong is an experience in cultural storytelling, with a playful sense of nostalgia ever-present amid the multi-course tasting menu.
Creative flourishes abound, such as the comic that accompanies the course dedicated to the humble palm, consciously constructed to conjure childhood memories. “When I create a menu, I hope to create a lasting impression,” she says. “I don’t want a customer to come and just eat and go home. I want them to remember us as an experiential moment. I want to provide something very personal. That is what we aim for at Potong.”
Pam’s mother, whom she cites as the best cook she knows and an incredible influence, aspired to become a chef but was unable to do so due to financial constraints. Partly inspired by this, Pam recently launched a programme called Women For Women in conjunction with the American Women’s Club of Thailand, to help support young females in impoverished rural areas of Thailand. She perceives education as imperative for lifting these families from poverty. “I believe that providing education for one generation can help set up opportunities for the ones that follow,” she says.
One of the strands of her plan is to aid those who wish to pursue a culinary career but don’t have access to opportunities to do so. “We have set up a scholarship that will enable young women to work in Michelin-star restaurants such as ours,” Pam says. “We will organise housing, transportation and provide a salary to enable them to learn about the job in a professional kitchen environment.”
With Bangkok’s chef Chudaree ‘Tam’ Debhakam’s Baan Tepa receiving an additional Michelin star while also claiming the prestigious 2024 Michelin Young Chef Award, and with Pam’s recent recognition as Asia’s Best Female Chef, the future for female chefs in the region looks exceptionally promising.
“Potong is not even three years old, and I know that we can achieve more great things,” Pam says. “My team consists of 80 per cent women, and I hope that receiving this award will help to inspire young female chefs to keep believing in what they are doing, to believe in themselves, to keep pushing the boundaries and become recognised in the industry. Soon it will be their turn to shine.”
Paying homage to the past while concurrently pointing to the future, Pam is paving a path that is sure to inspire further female empowerment in the food industry for generations to come.
