He’s at it again! Na-Chanok Ratanadaros, president of G Enterprise and Co Ltd, has made a name for himself in the restaurant business, having run several popular food establishments such as Falabella, Ging Kalpapruek, Japan X and Moom-Muum Park in the past 20 years.
He recently decided to relaunch the Thai restaurant Chingcha Charlee at G Floor, Siam Paragon. The opening party was a proverbial “Who’s Who” of Bangkok, with friends turning up in numbers to congratulate him on his new venture.
And if you’re curious about the strange name, it’s actually the name of a herbal plant, a climbing vine with heart-shaped leaves.
The idea for this new Thai restaurant grew out of his love for tasting authentic Thai food around the country. Realising that it wasn’t easy to find truly authentic Thai food cooked according to traditional recipes, he decided there was room for a Thai restaurant that did just that.
He revealed at the opening party that the menu will be packed with rare Thai dishes, based on the concept of “Three Seasons, Three Colours”, which means the menus will rotate every four months, with contributions from three top chefs. Several international dishes, focusing on authentic tastes, will also be on offer.
The first top chef responsible for designing a menu for the restaurant was assistant professor Kobkaew Najpinit from Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, an authentic Thai cuisine expert. Her menu includes more than 20 traditional dishes such as crispy taro, pla chome ngam, lue satay, sang wa pla duk fu, salted beef fried rice, liang leaves stir fried with egg, tom klong grilled shrimp, and yam hua plee.
The next was chef Preedaphol “Phum” Palangkoon, a rising star from Le Cordon Bleu Dusit
Culinary School, whose menu features dishes including stir-fried pork with shrimp paste and lemongrass, deep-fried grilled catfish with sweet sauce, lon nam, khao luk moo dang song krueng, and garlic pork neck with herbs.
Last but not least was chef Apinun “Ef” Sawetwannakun from the Oriental Hotel. His menu includes nam prik luk rakang thong, grilled pork with steamed bitter gourd, crab meat salad with mango sauce, black ink stir-fried squid and sweet peas, roasted duck with young coconut soup and som chun.
At the opening party, Na-Chanok himself also took on the role of chef for the first time in his career, under the name “Pirate G”, with signature dishes of mee krob, khao chae, khao yum, kanom jeen nam ya pu tai and steamed beef soup with chili.
The atmosphere of the event was very lively, and guests enjoyed sample dishes such as sang wa pla duk fu, grilled catfish with sweet sauce, salted beef fried rice, stir-fried pork with shrimp paste and som chun.
They also watched a cooking demonstration by three couples — Jay and Jareyadee Spencer, who made som chun, Anisha Attaskulchai and Jiramote Phahusutr, who cooked grilled catfish with sweet sauce, and Na-Chanok and his wife Sikanya Saktidej Bhanubandh, who cooked mee krob.
Guests went home with an updated version of the traditional pinto food carrier in pastel colours. n
