PullmanChef Bunmee Nueangchaiyos – everyone calls him Chef Sorn – was the head chef of the Arcadia Elements Restaurant and sous-chef of many culinary events and functions at the wonderful five-star hotel pullman Arcadia Phuket.
It was a great pleasure for me to get to know him better in the short time we spent on Phuket. His friendly, open and always interested nature is more than a trademark.
Being born in Thailand’s Isan region is, among many other factors, one of the reasons why he is such a brilliant Thai chef as Isan has a reputation for amazing food. His Thai dishes are exceptionally authentic, visual highlights and tasted fantastic throughout and the bonus is his knowledge of Western cuisine.
Chef Sorn has gained international experience, he worked in Germany for a while and “took” some German habits with him. He is very well organized & always focused, stays calm even during hectic activity in the kitchen and radiates this to his employees. Mistakes in the kitchen should be made – only in this way can one learn sustainably and skills develop from these experiences.
He speaks English very well and is always open to experimenting with new flavours, which is one of Sorn’s great strengths. For example, he has already surprised me with a Thai variation of foie gras or a salmon taco as a starter.
Chef Sorn is able to accommodate a whole landscape of textures and aromas in one single bite the sensation can be overwhelming – a tip, close your eyes to experience his compositions to the fullest. Chef Sorn always proves with the visual appearance of his dishes that he is a master of decoration.
He plays very innovatively with edible flowers, herbs, foams, oils – even the already filleted carcass of a fish or the bones of spare ribs experience a decorative comeback on the plates of his guests.
Herbs are Chef Sorn’s hobby – in recent years he has started to grow rare and high-quality herbs with his partner and has since been supplying more than a handful of top hotels with his fresh products.
Of course, Chef Sorn also sampled black garlic – but he hasn’t told me yet what he conjured up with it – stay tuned
I hope that in the future I will have the pleasure of enjoying dishes that are his creations even more often – thank you very much for the many culinary experiences I had with you Khun Sorn.
Update: Chef Sorn is currently Executive Chef at MGallery V Villas on Phuket, a truly exquisite address.
