A native son returns for some homecooking
Chef Supamongkol is inviting you to his table
On a nondescript cul-de-sac in the lively Ekamai neighbourhood, several cars disappear into a house tucked behind a tall maroon-coloured gate from approximately 6-7pm every day. You may guess that it’s people visiting a friend’s house.
Only if you open the gate — make sure you have permission before you do so; otherwise you are likely to be accused of trespassing — you will come to know that this clandestine place is actually where people come for lobster, lamb and truffles.
To put it simply, this is a restaurant, but to make it clearer, this is a home open for strangers to take refuge in a degustation dinner.
Despite there being not even a single sign, this restaurant goes by the name of Chef’s Table and is frequented by a squad of diners every day. It is the brainchild of the 39-year-old Chef Supamongkol “Art” Supapipat, celebrated as a national swimmer-turned-chef, as he has once gone as far as winning a bronze medal in the SEA Games before turning his back on swimming pools and heading toward kitchens instead.
Chef’s Table bestrides French and Italian cuisines. The full-course meals differ, depending on his whim and creativity. Once a reservation is made — which should be done a week or two before the preferred date, because he only welcomes one group of people a day — he will email a list of dishes for diners to confirm.
The concept of Chef’s Table is something Supamongkol wants to pursue because it is more than just serving food to patrons. “Nowadays, everyone is opening a restaurant. But I wanted to be different. I wanted to bring about an exclusive dining experience.”
The concept of the restaurant comes from Supamongkol’s years of experience in the food world, and from the desire to do something not many chefs have thrown themselves into. It’s such confidence and adventurism that took him from being a swimmer to becoming a chef — and not just that, but the kind of chef who opens his own house to cook for strangers, where he sleeps just upstairs.
“I think experience tells whether a person is ready for something or not,” Supamongkol said. “Some people ask me what kind of people would come to eat at a restaurant like this. I was like, ‘If we don’t try, then we are never gonna know’. I just thought that there was nothing to lose and all I had to do was dare.”
Supamongkol’s love for food began as early as he can remember. He credits the fact that he was born in a big family of foodies — he has five siblings — and Italian-mafia-themed movies as the two most influential factors that led to his interest in cooking.
“I have stayed with food since I was young,” he said. “My mum was a great cook and my dad loved eating. This sort of shaped me into thinking that when I eat something, it needs to be good, that I need to know what I’m eating, and that I need to know how to choose good ingredients. This mindset was embedded in me. So I have always loved food.
“When I grew up, I liked to watch mafia movies. And in these movies, there are always restaurants that look so cool. So I thought that one day it would be cool to own something like this, and that I could use it as a hangout to be among my friends. I felt that if I ever had the opportunity, I would really have to have a restaurant of my own.” However, it was not until high school ended that Supamongkol became reacquainted with his dream of being a chef, for he had spent his teenage years going the extra mile with swimming. His parents had gotten him into a pool when he was young, whereupon he soon managed to make the national swim team and, in 1993, to get a full scholarship to attend secondary school in Florida, where he continued to thrive as a swimmer.
It was when graduation was nearing and he was injured that he had some time off to reflect on what he wanted to do with his life next. A school counsellor who had noticed the way he would talk about food and cooking with great delight suggested he look into culinary schools. This encounter led him to a path that he followed out of competitive swimming.
“It was not difficult to call it a day when you knew you had something more important and real waiting for you,” he said. “After all, I always knew that swimming would come to an end one day, and I would have to look for another skill that I could make a living from. I had a new goal and I believed that it would be my future.”
Supamongkol signed up for a culinary programme at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. However, his studies only lasted slightly over a year when the 1997 Asian financial crisis struck and he felt the need to come home. He enrolled at Dusit Thani College instead, where he chose to major in Western cuisine. Right after he graduated, he left for Holland following a mentor’s advice that he apply to Kasteel Kerckebosch Hotel’s restaurant in the city of Zeist, which later became the name of his first restaurant. He trained there for a year, climbing up the ladder from washing vegetables to the highest position in the kitchen.
“After I graduated, I was really curious to see what the culinary world had to offer,” said Supamongkol. “The thing is, when I was studying, a teacher would show us frozen jumbo mussels and I would already be excited. But I always knew that there was more to see out there.
“Once I arrived at the hotel, the head chef treated the newbies to a meal. When I finished eating it, I knew I was at the right place. So I got motivated to learn even more. There were so many things I wanted to see and experiment with. And it was there that I got to lay a finger on things like foie gras, sweetbread, caviar, truffles and lobster of the kind not seen in Phuket. These were the things that I had only heard of or seen from illustrations in textbooks, in the form of black-and-white photocopies. It was there that I got to cultivate my ambitions.”
After getting back, Supamongkol, brimming with gusto, went ahead with the project Zeist, which was in business from 2003-2012. In the end, he felt that the restaurant was in a rut, and, therefore, decided he’d had enough of it when his rental contract came to an end. Craving new inspiration, he landed a job as culinary consultant to Singha’s restaurant projects.
At the same time, he planned to build a new house close to his parents. With old guests badgering him about when he would return to cooking, the idea of opening a restaurant at his house crossed his mind. As a chef for whom meticulousness is a top priority, he thought the restaurant would serve as a perfect playground for being true to what he loves the most, which remained cooking.
Before long, Chef’s Table launched — in 2014 — and, despite people initially doubting its unfamiliar conceit, it has proved to be a success.
“It’s just that we need to know what we’re after ourselves,” Supamongkol said. “And I believe that when we get to do what we love, it will always turn out for the best.”