Following the departure of David Thompson from Nahm, the Michelin-star restaurant at the Como Metropolitan hotel has appointed chef Pim Techamuanvivit as its new figurehead. Bangkok-born Pim joins the hotel from San Francisco, where she founded the one Michelin-star Kin Khao. A food writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times and Food & Wine Magazine, Pim opened Kin Khao in 2014 and won her first star in 2016. Her Chez Pim food blog was called the world’s sixth top food blog by London’s Times newspaper.
How much change can we expect to see at Nahm now you’ve taken over?
Frankly, it’s not my job to set your expectations. But you know, a restaurant is not just tables and chairs, it’s an expression of the chef who runs it. You have a different chef at the helm now. It’s not going to be the same restaurant. At the same time, no one’s going to flip a restaurant with a legacy like Nahm’s into a burger joint. In my cooking I respect the legacy of Thai cuisine, and the way I run Nahm will respect the legacy of Nahm.
What are similarities and differences in Kin Khao and Nahm’s approach to cooking?
I did not come to Bangkok to open a copy of Kin Khao. What would be the fun in that? Kin Khao is a boisterous bistro. It’s small, crowded, and probably louder than I’d like really. Nahm is a fine-dining restaurant. But at the heart of both restaurants is heritage Thai cooking with a focus on great ingredients.
If you could only change one thing at Nahm, it would be:
If I could only change one thing at Nahm, I wouldn’t have taken on the project.
How daunted are you by the task ahead? It’s a big legacy to step into.
I’m not sure if daunted is the word I’d choose. I am well aware of the legacy of Nahm and of chef Thompson. But I wouldn’t have taken the job if I didn’t have a contribution of my own to add to this dialogue.
Have you learned anything from David Thompson’s approach to Thai food?
I don’t know chef Thompson well, and, unlike many Thai chefs working in Bangkok and elsewhere, I’ve not worked with him. I have great admiration for his dedication and his love of Thai cuisine.
Your greatest ever meal out in Bangkok—Nahm not included—and why?
“Ever” is a long time. I can tell you one of the loveliest meals I’ve had in Bangkok recently was at this little restaurant Klang Suan in Sukhumvit. The young chef was the only one in his kitchen. His wife ran the front of house. The chef and the cuisine came from Ranong, so do most of the produce they use. It’s the kind of cooking that’s so bright, honest, deliciously true to its roots. I’ve been in Bangkok not quite three weeks but I’ve already been twice.
Your late-night Bangkok street-food tip?
It may not have started out as late-night street-food, but it sort of turned out to be. It’s the crab omelet at Jay Fai. I arrived for my table at 8pm, and we got our omelet at 10:30pm. It was well worth the wait.
You love the Bangkok restaurant scene right now because…
There is so much energy in the restaurant scene right now. It’s super exciting to be back. So many cooks expressing their own personalities and points of view on Thai food. You can feel the pulse. It’s electric.
You hate the Bangkok restaurant scene right now because...
"Hate" is also a strong word. I’d say I dislike the trend toward too much sweetness in savory dishes. I guess if you live in Bangkok and eat the food here every day, you can’t really taste the sugar creeping into the food. When I used to come back once a year to see my family, I could taste the drastic change from year to year.
How often will you be in the kitchen here?
As much as required to properly run a restaurant like Nahm. I do still run another Michelin-starred Thai restaurant in San Francisco... Between my chef de cuisine at Kin Khao, Meghan Clark, and my head chef at Nahm, Suraja “Jan” Ruangnukulkit, I have two sets of great hands who will hold up the operation when I’m not there... Jan and I get along fabulously. She has the same sensibility with food that I do. We instantly clicked when we started working together. I have 100-percent confidence in her capability as a cook and as a manager.
