Why Michelin-starred Paste Bangkok’s ‘Chef Bee’ is on a mission to save food’s ‘soul’
Winner of elit Vodka Asia’s Best Female Chef 2018 and husband, Jason Bailey, tells STYLE her recipe for success
In the little over six years since she and her husband, Jason Bailey, started Paste Bangkok, chef Bongkoch “Bee” Satongun has built a reputation as a force to be reckoned with in the Thai culinary scene.
Her exploration of old traditional recipes combined with modern creativity has resulted in dishes that boast a complexity of layers and flavours that have won her fans from all over the world.
Last year, “Chef Bee”, as she is better known, was named the elit Vodka Asia’s Best Female Chef 2018.
Each dish has its history and if you do not understand the history, the soul of that dish is lost
Paste Bangkok also won its first star in the inaugural Bangkok Michelin Guide last year – which it still maintains – and was placed 28th in the Asia’s Best 50 Restaurants Awards 2019.
She has also opened Paste Laos in Luang Prabang and has announced a new venture in Australia later this year.
STYLE sat down with the chef to see what drives her in the kitchen.
When you opened Paste Bangkok, what was the dream?
The dream actually started when [my husband] Jason [Bailey] and I first met each other. At the time, I wasn’t working in the kitchen. I worked as an administrative secretary, but the dream was to have the best Thai restaurant in the world.
Growing up we didn’t have a blender so used a mortar and pestle; we used charcoal stoves and made our own coconut milk as we didn’t have machinery. Everything was done by hand. That’s the Thai food I grew up with
What are your first memories of the kitchen?
I come from a family that sells food so I had to help my mum since I was five years old, to pick herbs and other things. It was not my choice to do cooking.
