He is responsible for elevating Thai cuisine to the ranks of gastronomic excellence. Ten years after leaving London, the chef David Thompson is about to reopen a restaurant in the British capital. Here's why his return will not go unnoticed in the food world.
Originally from Australia, David Thompson is a member of that select circle of chefs for whom foodies were ready to cross the planet... before the pandemic. If you've only just got into following food news, his name may not ring a bell. But his upcoming arrival in London will finally give you the opportunity to sample his cuisine and understand why the British press is so excited about his return. Although born in Sydney, David Thompson built his reputation on making Thai cuisine a truly, internationally recognized gastronomic cuisine.
The chef has always worked with green curry and other flavors borrowed from Thailand's culinary culture. However, it is in London that he first won acclaim. His Nahm restaurant opened in 2001 at the Halkin Hotel in Mayfair. Within six months, the Australian had won over the critics and immediately received a Michelin star. It was the first time in Europe that an eatery dedicated to Thai cuisine had been awarded a star. This was enough to make him an ambassador for this culinary style. As early as 2002, the chef declared his love for his signature cuisine with a book containing more than 300 recipes.
In partnership with the COMO hotel group, the Australian chef added a second address to his portfolio, this time in the promised land, in Bangkok. Thompson kept his star London restaurant shining for ten years, before finally deciding to focus on the success of his restaurant in the Thai capital. And as soon as Michelin decided to launch an edition dedicated to Thai gastronomy, David Thompson earned a star. That was in 2017. But the chef's talent had already been celebrated for several years by the World's 50 Best Restaurants. The British magazine Restaurant offered him an entry right away in 2012. Nahm then experienced a meteoric rise to 13th place in 2014. And it continued to feature until 2018, when David Thompson decided to hang up his apron in Bangkok (it is the chef Pim Techamuanvivit who is now at the helm).
From Hong Kong to London
The Australian chef then launched a new restaurant, this time in Hong Kong. And the spicy, fragrant flavors that contribute to the success of Thai cuisine remain his DNA at Aaharn. In an interview with Michelin, the Australian chef confided that he had leafed through his archives from his London days to build the menu for this new culinary adventure. And with it came success. In 2020, Michelin saluted the eatery with a star, published in the Red Guide reserved for Hong Kong and Macau. A distinction that is still valid today.
In the meantime, David Thompson hasn't failed to democratize his cuisine by rolling out a chain of Thai restaurants, under the name Long Chim, which means "come and taste" in Thai. He chose his native country to launch a menu based on roasted pork and duck, vegetables spiced up with Thai herbs or chili sauce, and without forgetting the classic pad Thai and jasmine rice. As proof of his commitment to promoting Thai cuisine, Thompson is currently delighting visitors to the Dubai World Expo (until March 22) with this signature cuisine.
And it is precisely this culinary concept that is due to open in London's Chinatown district this year, according to the food website, Eater. Never since David Thompson became a global reference will his talent have been so accessible to Europeans.
