Sorn: Growing from fond childhood memories to a Michelin-starred restaurant

“I can’t remember when I began cooking. I just remember helping my grandmother in the kitchen since I was very young,” says the chef, whose fine-dining Thai restaurant has already won two Michelin stars. One of only two Thai chefs to win Michelin stars in 2019, Supaksorn’s restaurant now ranks second in the list of Asia’s 50 Best restaurants and 39th in the world. 
 

“Sorn is my legacy,” the chef declares proudly as he explains the meaning of the name. Sorn, read as “śaraṇa”, was derived from the Sanskrit word meaning a place to rest or a leader who can be counted upon. He said the restaurant is at the centre of his and his staff members’ heart. 

The restaurant based in Bangkok’s Sukhumvit Soi 26 quickly rose to fame after opening in June 2018.  
As to why he chose southern cuisine, Supaksorn says with a smile, “because that’s what I know best! My grandma cooked this food to feed the family, and that’s the cuisine I grew up with.” 

On the menu are regular southern dishes like khao yam (turmeric rice tossed with vegetables, herbs and fish innards), kan chiang pu (blue swimmer crab leg) and yellow giant sea catfish curry. However, at Sorn, these dishes are turned into culinary works of art. The simple khao yam becomes a colourful “forest”, while the crab leg turns into “gems on a crab stick”. Even the simple yellow curry takes on an innovative twist as fried fish drenched in turmeric and garlic is served along with curried young mangosteen and giant catfish roe.

So what makes his creations so special?
“Love,” the chef says simply. “Without love, the food will not be delicious. Food at Sorn is a blend of delicacy and dedication. 

“I preserve original flavours and methods used more than 100 years ago. At Sorn, chilli paste is still pounded by hand and rice is still cooked in a clay pot. This delicate work requires dedication, and that’s something I’m proud of. It’s at the root of where I come from – Nakhon Si Thammarat,” he said. 

“I want to recreate what my grandmother used to make for us. Here we serve authentic southern Thai cuisine with ingredients sourced from 14 provinces in the South. For instance, seafood is flown in within an hour of the catch arriving, while chillies come from a specific farm. Even the water for cooking rice and coal comes from the South,” the chef said. 

As we bid goodbye, the chef takes a long pause as he looks out at the September rain before saying: “I want to keep striving forward and bring southern Thai food to the international stage. That’s why Sorn was born.”