The young chef on designing menus for Bangkok’s hottest supper club
Robb Report Thailand catches up with chef Tony Bish who talks about how he went from being chef-tutor at one of Thailand’s most renowned cooking schools, The Blue Elephant to being part of Mana, a supper club that’s part of one of the city’s newest nightspots, the Oriental-spirited Chi Ultra Lounge.
When did your interest in Thai cuisine begin?
Being half Thai and having grown up in both Bangkok and Phuket, I fell in love with everyday Thai food. I initially learned how to cook from my mother as well as with guidance from Blue Elephant’s Master Chef Madame Nooror Somany-Steppe who refined my knowledge of the cuisine.
How different is it between being a chef and someone who teaches others how to be chefs?
I spent two years teaching at the Blue Elephant Cooking School in Phuket, which I loved. I met new people every day from all over the world, some home cooks and indeed some chefs. It wasn’t so much about teaching someone to become a chef as it was about teaching people about local produce and culinary culture. We did this by visiting the local fresh markets, chatting with local store owners, and of course a little cooking and tasting for good measure.
How did the idea behind Mana come about?
Mana is a pure collaborative effort, with the investors and the designers of Chi on one end and Madame Nooror, as well as her eldest son Khun Kim and I on the other. Kim was approached by Chi to come up with a supper-club concept by Blue Elephant. Coincidently and somehow, he had figured out that I had returned from a year away in the US, so he contacted me and described the idea behind Chi and the designs. After that the ideas just started flowing, and Mana was born. It’s both a name and concept that we felt best matched and elevated the theme and designs of the Chi structure.
How do you decide on what types of dishes to feature?
With so many players involved it was hard to settle on just one single idea for Mana’s set menu for. So instead we went with the power of three; Fire, Water, and Earth. A set menu for meat and poultry, a set for seafood, and one for vegetarians as well, all of which feature outstanding local produce. It’s Asian cuisine with a western twist.
Thai cuisine is usually prepared with tried-and-tested techniques. With the cuisine at Mana, you are given free reign? Is this exciting?
Free reign, to a certain extent, and with one condition: everything has to pass Madame Nooror’s palate and have her seal of approval. Exciting. Exhausting. Enlightening. There are quite a few words I could use to describe it, though all in all it is indeed quite liberating, being given room to express yourself and to push your own boundaries.
Is there a dish you’re exceptionally proud of creating?
Well, the dishes I created for Mana work best if eaten as a set as they were designed though we’re perfectly happy for people to mix and match. Two of the dishes that have survived the many trial stages and have remained for the most part in their original form are the Indian halibut with orange candy and the deconstructed mango cheesecake.
Why do you think Bangkok is ready for a supper club?
Bangkok is not only ready; it’s overdue for one.
