Here in Bangkok there is a small restaurant — there is just one long table with seating for 12 — where the prices are well into the high-end range. There are just enough seats to accommodate an executive group. The layout is unusual, with a spacious kitchen in the same space as the dining area, so customers can view a cooking system that is orderly, clean and modern. The decor and lighting are attractively contemporary.
Limited space: Right, diners at the exclusive Khao restaurant can watch one of the best chefs in the country.
Only supper is served there, and it is offered as a Western-style set menu, although the food is Thai. Among the ingredients used in the kitchen are a variety of imported meats of kinds not usually found in Thailand. Most come from Japan, with customers given a choice of only the best. Vegetables, too, are fresh and carefully selected.
On these special evenings guests at the restaurant will be able to see the chef demonstrating his fastidiousness and skill through every stage in the preparation of the food. The finished dishes will have the beauty of the works of art that they are, and the flavour will be fine enough to impress them with the uniqueness of the meal they are experiencing.
The name of the restaurant is Khao (Rice). It is located at the end of Sukhumvit Soi 51 near another premium restaurant, this one Japanese, called Yuutaro. The chef who conceived and runs it is Vichit Mukura, an aristocrat among Thai cooks.
Mastermind: Chef Vichit Mukura.
Not long ago, Vichit resigned from his position at the Mandarin Oriental’s Sala Rim Naam riverside restaurant, where he headed the kitchen team.
He had worked there for almost 30 years, during which he had been the manager and the head of the group of kitchen staff. In addition, he has led a team who prepared Thai-style snacks and light dishes for the world leaders who came to Thailand to attend an Apec conference some years ago, and has organised food festivals for five-star hotels in Europe and the US dozens of times.
Outside his professional activities, Vichit has fields planted with jasmine rice at his home in Bang Lamung, Chon Buri, and cultivates them by himself. He is also the author of a cookbook that is available in bookshops throughout Thailand.
Speaking of Khao, his restaurant, Vichit explained: “Abroad, chefs have been preparing special food for prominent people for a long time. People of this kind — very wealthy members of the upper class, entertainment celebrities — like privacy, and the food prepared for them must be extremely delicious and luxurious. Here in Thailand we have that kind of thing, too.There are people who have chefs who have earned three Michelin stars cook for them at home, and invite friends to come and enjoy the food with them. Money is not an important factor for them when planning a special meal like this.
“While I was still working at the Sala Rim Naam I set up a chef’s table where people could eat right in the kitchen. It was very small, and anyone dining there could see all of the food preparation techniques being used. It became very popular. It could be used for private dining by ambassadors and for prominent people having a birthday meal with friends.
“But then when the invited friends’ own birthday came, they might take the table for a celebration of their own, and there were people who would welcome guests from abroad with a meal at the chef’s table. It became well known among a certain group of people and was frequently in use. It was the original of the concept that I have used at Khao, and I think the restaurant satisfies the needs of the people like those who used to dine at the chef’s table.
“If you are going to prepare a meal that will be special, everything, everything has to be special, beginning with the raw ingredients. Meat, fish, prawns and shellfish are all imported. Japan is our major source of seafood.
Even though the dishes are Thai, there is no law stating that the ingredients all have to come from Thailand, or that Thai freshwater fish like snakeheads or catfish must be used. Thai food can be made using premium ingredients of all kinds.
“All of the dishes served at Khao are authentically Thai. We serve kaeng khio waan, phanaeng, nam phrik, tom yam and different yam dishes, nothing adapted and no fusion. The only difference is that presentation can differ from what is traditional.
Creative temptation: ‘Yam nuea puu’ and breaded, deep-fried scallops with mango sauce.
“One other thing is that we present customers with a Western-style set menu. This method was suggested by a prominent customers who said that it was time that this style of dining came to Thailand. Now that Thai cuisine has become one of the most highly regarded cooking traditions in the world, it is time to offer this approach, because the conventional one, with many dishes set on the table at once to be shared, may be something that some people are not accustomed to, especially at meals associated with ceremonies.
“One thing that helps to make a meal at Khao special is the element of surprise. We do not let customers know in advance what will be on the full set menu on the day that they come. They only learn what will be served when they arrive. But we ask in advance if there will be anyone in the group who does not eat beef or pork, doesn’t like fish, wants to eat shrimp or shellfish, or doesn’t like spicy food, and then we make sure that the food accommodates these preferences.
“As for price, there are three categories: 5,000, 8,000 or 10,000 baht per person. These are for evening meals. During the day we have a project offering instruction in Thai cooking to no more than eight students per day. We teach them how to prepare three kinds of dishes, and afterwards we eat the food that was cooked at the session.”
Bookings can be made by contacting Yuutaro on 02-662-6070, emailing info@yuutaro.com, or by calling Vichit himself at 08-1822-8601. n
