Ton Thitid

The Path

Ton Thitid trained at Chulalongkorn University, Culinary Institute of America, and Johnson & Wales University, a sequence that points to formal technique and structured standards. He then worked in leading New York kitchens at Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurants in the United States in United States, The Modern in New York, United States, and Eleven Madison Park in New York, United States. Those rooms set a rhythm of precision, pace, and consistency that would carry into the rest of his work. What follows from that training is a career built across multiple addresses rather than one fixed format. Ton is founder of Le Du (since 2013), owner and chef of Nusara, Executive Chef and owner of Baan, and owner and chef of Samut. The progression shows a chef moving from opening to ownership to ongoing authorship, with Bangkok as the constant center of gravity.

The Work Today

At Baan in Bangkok, Ton Thitid works as Executive Chef and owner, and the role puts him directly on the line between menu, kitchen, and house identity. The cuisine he names as his own is modern Thai cuisine, which places Thai foundation work inside a contemporary frame. The point is not substitution but adjustment: technique used to keep the food current while still reading as Thai. That same approach extends across the restaurants he runs in Bangkok. He remains founder of Le Du in Bangkok, a role begun in 2013; he is owner and chef of Nusara in Bangkok; and he is owner and chef of Samut in Bangkok. Taken together, those kitchens map a chef who has moved from training into ownership and into a broader practice of Thai cooking in the present tense. The thread running through that work is memory handled as material, not as nostalgia. It is present in the way Ton speaks about cooking, and in the way his restaurants keep returning to Thai reference points while refusing to sit still inside them.

Signature

Ton's signature dishes include Ant Larvae.

In Their Words “I am Chef Ton, Thitid Tassanakajohn. I am the chef and owner of Le Du, Nusara, Samut, Lawoi and more than ten concepts across Thailand and Asia.” “I get inspired from what I grow up with, what I eat since I was a kid, and then I make it into something else.”

Acclaim

Ton's honors include Le Du ranked No. 1 on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, The Best Restaurant in Asia, and The Best Restaurant in Thailand. The result is a body of work that moves from university training to the Culinary Institute of America and Johnson & Wales University, from leading New York kitchens to a Bangkok-based portfolio, and from inherited reference points to ongoing revision. Across Baan, Le Du, Nusara, and Samut, Ton Thitid has built a practice shaped by movement, but grounded in clear intent: keep the food evolving without letting go of its source material.