‘The woman behind Paste Australia, the regional restaurant that has a solid claim to be the nation’s most exciting Thai restaurant, has plenty more dazzling dishes up her sleeve.’
– The Australian Financial Review Magazine
‘A watermelon salad with delicate balls of watermelon, ground salmon with fried shallots and toasted galangal powder. The watermelon pops and the complexities of the flavours are beautifully balanced. ‘
– Escape Magazine
‘What you can taste is everything in it – the herbs, lemongrass, galangal, pork, crab, edible flowers, smokiness and sweet coconut – made the hard way, the old way, by hand. Downtown Mittagong, you are now officially destination dining.’
– Good Food Australia
‘While she is excited about Australian produce, procuring the volume and variety of herbs is a challenge. “Fresh is best, but layering the herbs is a different story. Thai food is not just hot, salty and sour and very, very rarely sweet. That is just the seasoning. ‘
– Lorraine Elliott ‘Not Quite Nigella’
‘She’s been called Asia’s best female chef and leads one of Asia’s premier Michelin-starred restaurants, Paste, in Bangkok. Chef Bongkoch “Bee” Satongun and her partner, Australian-born chef Jason Bailey, are masters of Thai cookery. ‘
– Centurion Magazine
‘Indeed Thai food lovers who visit the elegant restaurant in Bangkok’s Gaysorn Village will be struck by how the dishes at Paste are unequivocally Thai yet unlike anything they’ve had before. ‘I twist the dish in layered herbal combinations,’ the self-taught chef explains, ‘injecting more umami that synergises and highlights the surrounding herbs.’
– Singapore Airlines
‘Authenticity is not duplication of the past. It is learning from the past, discovering depth
and details that are new to us, and adapting them to the future, just as those artists, writers, and chefs of history did before us.’
– Redbull Hangar-7
WG Magazine Pg 123 – 135 : Queen “Bee” of Thai Heirloom Cuisine
‘To resurrect traditional Thai flavours and revitalise them for contemporary diners. I will go through an extensive process of testing and refining a dish, referring to the original recipe but also questioning how to reinvent it.’
– WG Magazine
Why Michelin-starred Paste Bangkok’s ‘Chef Bee’ is on a mission to save food’s ‘soul’
‘From the time we decided we wanted to do it, it took about 14, 15 years. So we studied a lot, sometimes we did not eat anything but Thai food because we wanted to understand the flavours.’
– South China Morning Post
‘Every morning,” Satongun recalls, “I had to help out in the kitchen before school. And then once I finished my homework in the afternoon, I was back at it again.’
– KTCHNrebel
‘Menus change regularly but diners can expect intensely flavoured, colourful dishes such as the Thai-Portuguese lotus stem salad of local crayfish, poached pheasant, crispy lotus petal and gold apple powder, or the sour orange curry with fresh curry paste, drumstick shoot and caramelised black cod.’
– The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
‘What makes it stand out: Paste is a study in Thai culinary history. Chef-owners Bongkoch ‘Bee’ Satongun and her husband Jason Bailey have spent years painstakingly studying and chronicling the evolution of Thai cuisine, discovering century-old recipes and long-forgotten techniques in the process.’
– The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
‘Menus change regularly but diners can expect intensely flavoured, colourful dishes such as the char-grilled langoustine salad with northern Thai forest ingredients, or the beef rib, braised for 12 hours and served with long pepper, roasted tomatoes and mushroom soy.’
– The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
Elit® Vodka Asia’s Best Female Chef 2018 by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
‘Bongkoch ‘Bee’ Satongun has dedicated most of her life to rediscovering and reviving the authentic flavours of classic Thai cuisine. Together with chef-husband Jason Bailey, she has carved a unique place in Bangkok’s diverse gastronomic scene with restaurant Paste, where she showcases refined versions of traditional Thai dishes that reflect the country’s heritage with layered flavours and textural contrasts.’
‘A restaurant serving artisanal Thai food, conceived by one of the most talented and respected female chefs in Bangkok, rewarded with an excellent ranking in the most renowned culinary listings like Michelin (1 star) and New Candidate for the TOP100 by The Best Chef Awards 2019… If that can’t convince you to schedule a trip to Paste Restaurant, we wouldn’t know what would trigger you anyway…’
– The Best Chef Awards
5 Questions With Bee Satongun On Bangkok’s Culinary Scene
‘Satongun grew up in her family’s small eatery in Bangkok, helping her mother prepare classic Thai dishes but didn’t pursue a culinary career till she met and married Australian chef Jason Bailey at the age of 28. Her husband’s passion for Thai food was infectious and Satongun trained under him to learn to recreate the flavours of her childhood.’
– Michelin Guide Bangkok
‘Satongun is rediscovering her roots with the help of one of the most important culinary figures in Lao cuisine, Phia Sing. He was the chef and master of ceremonies to the kings of Laos, and a cookbook derived from his notes was published posthumously. This collection of recipes proved to be a treasure trove of resources for Satongun, who had already developed a habit of researching ancient texts for Paste Bangkok.’
– Fine Dining Lovers
‘We recently checked out the Michelin-starred restaurant and took the chance to sit down with Chef Bee, who just came back from the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants award ceremony in Macau. Here, she discusses with us her endeavour to preserve ancient Thai cooking techniques, what being named Asia’s Best Female Chef means to her and exciting next steps for Paste.’
– Lifestyle Asia
