What went on at Thai fine-dining restaurant Nusara’s 4th anniversary celebrations in Bangkok

Multi-hands dining events were all the rage last year when chefs across Asia went all out to organise cooking collaborations with their peers. However, it can sometimes be a source of stress, shares chef Thitid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn, a seasoned four-hands personality himself, who runs one-Michelin-starred Thai-influenced contemporary restaurant Le Du, and modern Thai restaurant Nusara, both in Bangkok. 

Ton shares: “Sometimes, comparisons are made between the dishes presented by the participating chefs in these events. So I wanted to find a non-serious way to get chefs to cook together.”

The affable chef found a solution —  presenting street food. For Nusara’s fourth anniversary, Ton and his brother, Tam, who is the restaurant’s maître d and sommelier, threw an ambitious 18-hands Street Food Collaboration with seven chefs from acclaimed restaurants in Asia on 30 July.

They include Chef Wayne and Paul Liew of zichar restaurant KEK Seafood from Singapore, chef Kim Hock Su of one-Michelin-starred French restaurant, Au Jardin in Penang, chef Eom Tae-jun from one-starred contemporary Korean restaurant Solbam in Seoul, chef Peter Cuong Franklin from one-starred Anan in Saigon and chef Hans Christian from modern Indonesian-inspired restaurant August in Jakarta. 

The brief was simple — cook dishes that close to their hearts and best represent their countries. Nusara was also aptly transformed into a casual street food joint, complete with plastic chairs, enamel plates and plastic cups, with perky Thai pop music playing in the background. 

From Singapore, KEK Seafood presented its velvety and glossy Moonlight Hor Fun, perched with an egg yolk perched on top of the wok-fried rice noodles, and salted egg prawns. Dishes from Malaysia include guava rojak and dry-styled Johor Laksa by Restaurant Gen in Penang, pork empanadas and sisig from Toyo Eatery in Manila and Tahu Gejrot (fried tofu in sweet and spicy sauce) from Jakarta’s August, and more. The gregarious host prepared two Thai favourites, laab moo tod (fried pork meatballs) and seafood claypot. 

More than cooking, Ton shares that the event doubles up as a networking event for chefs to get to know their peers in the region better, adding that it was the first time that he is working with some of the younger chefs such as chefs Johnston Wong from Chinese-influenced innovative restaurant Gen and chef Kim Hock Su of Au Jardin, both in Penang and August’s chef Hans Christian. 

Restaurant insiders would also know that these collaborative events often spawn other four-hands events, which allow chefs to exchange their knowledge, learn and broaden their culinary knowledge and techniques. For some, it also allows them and their teams to take a much-needed break from the daily grind in the kitchen and find a dose of inspiration for their next menus. 

Growing Nusara 

The event also marks Nusara’s biggest celebratory event, since it started as a 10-seater restaurant in the shadows of the pandemic in 2020. Last year, it expanded to occupy a four-storey shophouse that soaks up unobstructed, majestic views of Wat Pho. The 30-seater restaurant now takes diners for an around-the-house experience, starting from canapes in the kitchen on the ground floor, before adjourning to the terrace, which serves stunning rooftop views, and a couple more canapes washed down with Krug champagne. 

Dishes at Nusara include  Crispy noodles (mee krob) is reimagined as a tri-coloured tuile that gently snaps into a bowl of satisfyingly rich blue swimmer crab yellow curry beaming with huge meaty chunks.

Tom Kha is jazzed up with slipper lobster and crunchy gourami fish crumble that gives an addictive crunch to the creamy soup. The Thai use of pastes is celebrated with a quartet of relishes: sweet, savoury, sour - shrimp, tomato, peanut and lemongrass that tickles the tastebuds. For mains, main dishes, thankfully, come in individual portions: fiery smoked short ribs laab, lighter beef consomme with herbs, pumpkin and mushrooms, prawn salad and green curry and chicken dumpling.

Over the past few years, Ton shares that the menu has been refined at Nusara, which is named after his grandmother, who was a seamstress. Her Singer sewing machine is proudly showcased on the ground floor against a backdrop of textiles. 

He says: “Nusara is about interpreting how a Thai restaurant should look and feel like today - it is about giving relevance to Thai cuisine, keeping and reinterpreting traditions, but it is still at heart,  a Thai restaurant.” The restaurant has been steadily climbing the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list, clinching the No. 6 spot this year. 

Growing a Thai restaurant empire

Ever the consummate F&B entrepreneur, Ton will open a rooftop restaurant-bar, serving Thai food and drinks on the 56th level of The Empire on Sathorn Building on September 20. The space, EA Chef’s Table, will also house a Chinese restaurant by chef Vicky Cheng of one-Michelin-starred Chinese-French restaurant Vea and innovative Chinese restaurant, Wing in Hong Kong. 

These concepts will open together with Japanese-Peruvian restaurant chain Nobu’s first Bangkok outlet on the 58th floor, touted as the highest Nobu restaurant in the world. 

Later this year, Ton will open Sood, a fun, causal Thai restaurant in Penang, and another concept in Beijing. He is also slated to open a Nusara-related concept in Kuala Lumpur next year, expanding his restaurant empire of over 10 dining establishments with a team of over 200 staff. 

He says: “I want to represent Thai food well in every spectrum, from fine-dining to casual. Through expanding, it is also a way of developing and retaining my staff, giving them room to grow.”