John Chantarasak: AngloThai’s journey from pop-up to Michelin star

While there were just three months between opening and earning a Michelin star for John Chantarasak at AngloThai, the accolade was years in the making.

AngloThai, as the name suggests, is a fusion of Thai flavours and British produce, mixing both halves of John’s heritage.

The restaurant, a joint venture by John and wife Desiree, has not even been open for a year yet, but is already on the culinary map of London.

“Once I stepped into a professional kitchen and started cooking, it felt very obvious to me that I would always want to open a restaurant of my own,” John explained.

“I had no idea how to do that. I had no money to do it. When I met Desiree, I kind of pushed this dream on to her and she wasn't even in hospitality at the time. Since then, she's retrained also to study her WSETs and now is a Master of Wine.

“So it was very much something that I had as a dream but didn't know how it would get from A to B.

“When I was in the kitchen, I really loved creating dishes of my own.

“So it was always kind of bubbling in the background.”

He continued: “It definitely took a little bit longer than expected.

“Many things that you don't know about in terms of finding the investment, finding a landlord that will support you and support your vision, and also just sticking to the integrity of what you believe in for your concept.

“Those three key things, they've taken time for us, but I think the proof is in the pudding in terms of what we've created. I think we've come out of the starting blocks with real energy and vigour and boldness.”

Balancing Thai flavours with British produce

Prior to developing AngloThai, John worked at restaurants such as Nahm in Bangkok and Som Saa in London, following his training at Le Cordon Bleu.

“My love and passion for food came from a very early age, but somewhat through osmosis,” said John.

“I'm the first in my family to step into hospitality. It was never anything that was on the cards at an early age and it was a bit of a last roll of the dice for me to go into catering school and end up where I am today.

“I was very fortunate to grow up in a family where my mother would put fresh meals on the table. We had a small allotment when we were growing up and there was a bit of an understanding there from an early age about where ingredients came from and what needed to happen to get fresh, nourishing food on the table.

“We were also very fortunate to travel quite frequently when I was a child. With my father being from Bangkok originally, we would travel back and forth as children to go and see that side of our family and were exposed to lots of different foods and wonderful things and different kinds of markets when we were young.

“I think all of those experiences kind of galvanised themselves into a love of food and a deeper understanding of where food came from.”

He added: “Like many other people, watching Jamie Oliver and Ready Steady Cook, I started to have a dabble myself with cooking.

“From then on, as soon as I got in the kitchen, started cooking food for myself, I started realising how rewarding it was to be able to cook something delicious and go out, buy the fresh produce and be able to produce something and be quite proud of that.”

John credits chefs David Thompson and Andy Oliver for playing pivotal roles in his culinary journey, which have ultimately seen him bring his knowledge of Thai cuisine to a western audience, initially as pop-ups, before a bricks and mortar site in Marylebone.

“My heritage is probably the main linchpin of the whole restaurant,” John said.

“My father was born and brought up in Bangkok, my mother born in Cornwall, has family there but grew up in Kent.

“So from day one when I went and trained in Thailand, learnt about Thai cuisine and learnt more about that side of my culture and my heritage, I knew I wanted to come back and open a restaurant in the UK.

“But I knew that I would also want to use the local produce available