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Ananda Everingham - showcases Bangkok’s finest restaurants
Food talk: Chef Olivier Limousin of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon (left) chats with Taste Bangkok host Ananda Everingham
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Food talk: Chef Olivier Limousin of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon (left) chats with Taste Bangkok host Ananda Everingham.
Thai actor Ananda Everingham has recently found a great way to satisfy his passion for food: hosting a two-part travelogue called Taste Bangkok.
In the new two-part travelogue Taste Bangkok, Thai actor Ananda Everingham takes the audience to discover the vibrant food culture and culinary scene of Bangkok.
He also talks with restaurateurs and award-winning chefs about their culinary aspirations and inspirations as he charts the evolution of Thai cuisine from its traditional and regional roots to modern progressive interpretations that will influence future trends.
The audience is also invited to witness Bangkok’s growing trend of international cuisine from world-acclaimed chefs who decide to live and cook in the city, resulting in truly unique hybrid restaurants that are redefining dining culture.
“For me, Bangkok is a city of contradictions, a place of extremes. It’s functioning chaos in all its inexplicable glory. Above all, however, one thing is certain — Thai people are unified by their single passion for Thai food,” Everingham said.
The first part of the travelogue takes Everingham to the world of traditional and modern Thai cuisine at Bangkok’s top restaurants.
Everingham’s point of entry into the city’s culinary scene in the first part begins with his introduction to Chef Prew of Pla Dib Restaurant, a popular eatery that features fusion Thai dishes in the hip Aree neighborhood.
In total, Everingham visits nine traditional and modern Thai restaurants in the first part of the travelogue.
Some of the highlights include the Baan restaurant, which Everingham describes as an excellent example of a new generation of chefs who want to reinterpret home-style Thai comfort food with an environmentally conscious mindset.
Everingham is also introduced to Issaya Siamese Club’s Chef Ian Kittichai, regarded by food critics as the face of progressive Thai cooking. Kittichai is a highly respected figure and mentor of Thai cooking, and he offers a great deal of insight into how the cuisine in Bangkok is evolving and transforming.
For the second part of the travelogue, Everingham introduces Bangkok’s top restaurants that offer international cuisines.
Everingham visits and introduces a total of 13 restaurants in the second part, including La Normandie Grill, which is the longest-standing and most popular French fine-dining establishment in Bangkok.
He also looks into the Mast restaurant, which features traditional Japanese cookery, and hosts Chef Masato, the youngest chef in New York ever to be awarded a Michelin star, who moved to Bangkok last year, as well as Gaggan, which has been rated as the number-one restaurant in Asia and features progressive Indian cuisine.
Everingham said that after visiting more than 20 top restaurants in Bangkok, he could not name a single most impressive or favorite eatery.
“I think it depends more on the individual. The show is about over 20 establishments and each has a unique story and each is world class,” he said.
“The real highlight of the show is the fact is that we introduce the audience to the many types of culinary options in Bangkok. I think it’s refreshing to see what exists in the other spectrum of Thai food.”
Everingham said he also did not provide reviews or ratings of the restaurants because he was there to have a culinary experience.
“I am a bit more like the audience to be completely honest,” he said.
Being a food addict also greatly helps Everingham, as he says that although he has no technical knowledge of how Thai cuisine works, his interaction with the food allows him to identify what is so unique about the cuisine.
“When it comes to Thai food, there is this charisma of being playful; it is a joyous process. Thai food is about the experience of eating it rather than the experience of creating it. There is no one way to enjoy the Thai food […] With each meal, it can be slightly different,” he said.
He added that his experience as a host for a food-theme show was amazing, especially because it was his first time hosting.
”I am not a host by trade. I am first and foremost an actor. I do like to produce shows but this is my first time hosting a show. So it was quiet a unique experience. I think the most memorable part is to really live up to my foodie fantasy. I have always been a big fan of food shows.”
— Courtesy of Life Inspired
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Life Inspired Original Production’s Taste Bangkok premieres on June 21. The second episode to air on June 28 at 8 p.m. Life Inspired available on First Media, Transvision, Topas and K-Vision.
