Like a simmering pot just shy of boiling, Nat Thaipun bubbles with restless energy. When we meet at Acapulco El Vista on Sydney’s iconic Circular Quay, the celebrated chef is launching a new takeover menu, replete with an eclectic fusion of textures and influences. Dancing from one side of the room to the other, she carefully watches as a chorus line of culinary creations emerges from the kitchen.
Plates are stacked with raw fish smothered in bright green chilli and coconut dressing, slow-cooked lamb ribs glazed in fragrant Panang curry and somewhere between the Jalapeño & Sesame cocktail and a deconstructed Thai-Australian lamington, I start to get a sense of this beautifully chaotic world that Nat has curated. It’s vibrant and lively, much like the chef herself, but there is a tempered curiosity that sits just beneath the surface. The atmosphere invites you in, captures your attention and takes you on a journey that stretches far beyond the confines of the plate. Food is, as Nat tells me, a universal language.
“Growing up with Asian parents, my parents both being Thai, it was really hard to communicate with them emotionally, to connect with them emotionally. I did it through food,“ she tells me. “I’d ask my mum how to make something that my grandma used to make all the time, and instead of giving me the recipe, my mum would tell me stories and stories, and she’d just go on forever. That’s when I realised how meaningful food was to our family, but also to a lot of other migrant families as well.“
That realisation was a revelation that would ultimately change the course of Nat’s life. Armed with the language of food, she travelled the world, making connections and finding a profound sense of belonging, no matter the distance from home. From New Zealand to Switzerland and then to Japan, Nat’s whirlwind journey across the globe took her places where Thai ingredients were scarce and sometimes prohibitively expensive. When homesickness hit hardest, she was forced to get creative.
“What my mum and dad have taught me is that Thai food can be literally made anywhere and everywhere. It’s the queen of adaptation,“ she explains. “What was so important about connecting to home without always contacting your family, was actually food.“
Those lessons became the foundation for the 2024 MasterChef winner’s debut book, Thai: Anywhere and Everywhere: a love-letter to the diaspora experience and a manifesto for cooking without borders. Which is precisely what she is doing now. As the new food and beverage brand ambassador for Pullman Hotels across Australia, New Zealand and Asia, Nat is bringing her own menu of wanderlust-inspired Thai cuisine to the group’s massive array of restaurants.
I recently caught up with Nat at Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour to talk about her new role and the thinking behind her travelling menu takeover. Over the course of our conversation, we discussed how growing up in her parents’ restaurant shaped her, why cooking became a way to communicate with her family, and how those experiences informed her book Thai: Anywhere and Everywhere.
with bright green chilli and coconut dressing | Image: Pullman Hotels
MJ: Tell me a little about the new role with Pullman. What can foodies and travellers expect?
NT: We’ll be doing events and activations where chefs can essentially have my plates everywhere, from Asia-Pacific, New Zealand and Australia, but also Singapore, Thailand, Korea; anywhere you want really.
It’s super exciting. It allows me to travel, but most importantly, it allows me to become a better chef because I have to learn to use different produce from all around the world. That keeps me on my toes. It’s hard, but I love it. The creativity needs to happen with a lot of barriers.
MJ: Creativity is a huge part of your process. Your book Anywhere and Everywhere is all about the concept of adaptation and learning how to use what’s at your disposal no matter where you are in the world. Why was that idea so important to you?
NT: The fact that my book was able to be used everywhere around the world was important because I started traveling quite a lot when I was young, mostly because I hated summer. I lived in New Zealand, I lived in Switzerland, Japan, all these places that didn’t have access to Thai ingredients.
It’s kind of hard to get Thai ingredients when you’re trying to run away from summer and just chasing winters all the time. But what I realised; what was so important about connecting to home without always contacting your family, was actually food.
When I was missing home, when I was missing that community feel, I would essentially recreate big dining experiences with my friends using Thai food because Thai food is so community-driven. We share everything together. All the plates are made for sharing. I kind of forced myself to make Thai food in New Zealand during winter, which is so expensive.
MJ: How challenging was that experience?
NT: There are so many things you can’t get in South Korea; Japan doesn’t have many Thai ingredients. It was hard. There were certain dishes that I really wanted to eat; that I was craving and I remember messaging my mum and saying ‘Mum, I really want to eat this. I miss it so much.’
She’d be like, ‘Nat, just think about it. If you don’t have lemon, if you don’t have lime, just think about something sour. You need something sour.’ I was just like, ‘Wow, that’s so simple’ and I just started to do that for everything. I’d be like, ‘Mum, I don’t have any fish sauce. I can’t use fish sauce. Like what do I do?’ And she’d be like, ‘Think of the sea. Think about what you can use. If you don’t have the sea close to you, use soy sauce; use salt, you’re getting the same elements.’
My mum taught me how to do all these dishes and how to substitute everything. I actually realised how important it was, not only for my relationship with my mum, because I was connecting with her and she was low-key loving me, messaging her all the time, but also being able to make Thai food connected me with home in a way that nothing else could do. A phone call is heartwarming, but eating that food is so nostalgic. It’s a feeling that gets you. I don’t know, it just feels comfortable in a way that when you’re travelling, you can never replicate.
MJ: Did that make you feel closer to them? Did it give you a sense of belonging?
NT: When you’re away from home, when there’s something that you’re missing, there’s always overcompensation happening in your brain, naturally. As a teenager, especially, you’re doing things that you don’t really understand, but you do them anyway.
Growing up with Asian parents, my parents both being Thai, it was really hard to communicate with them emotionally, to connect with them emotionally. Therefore, I did it through food.
My dad loved it when I asked him about the most random stuff. He was really into cleaning cars, solar panels, and then certain dishes, like Southern Thai food, he loves talking about. So my way of connecting to him would be to ask things like, ‘Hey, what was your favourite dish that you loved eating or that reminds you of home?’ That’s how I really connected with them, and that’s where I started cooking.
I wanted to connect with them, but I didn’t know how to communicate that. So it just went towards, ‘How do you make this?’ And then they would tell me stories. I’d ask my mum how to make something that my grandma used to make all the time, and instead of giving me the recipe, my mum would tell me stories and stories, and she’d just go on forever.
“I realised how meaningful food is to our family, but also to a lot of other migrant families as well.“
For my mum and dad to migrate to Australia and try and make Thai food here, it almost was like bonding in a way. We love Thai food but it’s hard, especially growing up in country Victoria, so being able to connect with food is very special.
MJ: What do you think people get wrong about Thai food and what do you hope they feel when they eat dishes that you have prepared?
NT: I think one of the most important things is to realise that Thai food is made for having fun. It’s very energising. It’s exciting. It’s adventurous. There are too many people who eat Thai food and they think ‘Oh, that’s not authentic’. You have to cut that.
What my mum and dad have taught me is that Thai food can be literally made anywhere and everywhere. It’s the queen of adaptation. If you go up north, one dish is totally different to the south. It might be called the same thing, but it’s so different.
“Leave your expectations behind and just absorb it how it is.“
I just want to make sure that people have fun with it, that they really get excited about the flavours and absorb it. Be open-minded when you go and eat Thai food. I want people to feel loved and feel like they’re having a family meal together. That’s really cheesy but it’s true.
As Pullman Hotels’ food and beverage brand ambassador, Nat Thaipun’s Thai-inspired bar menu will be hitting venues across Australia, New Zealand and Asia from mid-February through October. The activation officially launched at at Acapulco El Vista at Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour on Saturday February 21, with the exclusive menu to arrive at other locations in the immediate future.
