2 Memories Joined Together: The collaboration of Restaurant POTONG and Rumari

Oliver Wendell Holmes, an American famous lawyer in history, once mentioned “Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one that they sprung up.” And on this occasion, 2 memories and skills are fused to build on something beyond their own memories.

The first memory belongs to a French-native chef, chef Gaetan Biesuz. He has spent most of his career discovering and understanding the region’s ingredients and flavors. He has worked in fine dining restaurants in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, bringing his French background to the kitchen. And chef Gaetan Biesuz is now an executive chef at Rumari, Ruffles Bali.

CR: Chef Gaetan Biesuz

Rumari is a part of Raffles Hotel, Bali. The name 'Rumari' means the house of the sun and the full moon. The restaurant is located on the top of the hill with sea views. Most of the areas in this resort are gardens. So, chef Gaetan tries to find the best spot around the property to grow different ingredients. The concept is to elevate and put the reputation of Indonesian ingredients and flavors to the next level.

CR: Rumari

Another memory comes from Thai-Chinese-Australian chef Pam (Pichaya Utharntharm) who was brought up in Bangkok, Thailand. After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, her training began in the kitchen at the Hotel Grand Hyatt Erawan, Le Beaulieu, and later at Patara Find Thai Cuisine. Nowadays, chef Pam owns several restaurants, and her latest restaurant is Restaurant POTONG.

Restaurant POTONG is a Progressive Thai-Chinese Cuisine. With 5 Elements, 5 Senses, 20 Inspiring dishes: Taste Chef Pam’s journal memories of Progressive Thai-Chinese cuisine. Inspired by old school 4th generation POTONG Traditional Medicine House situated in the heart of Yaowaraj and the spirit of late-night Chinatown Hangouts in 1960's New York. Roughly POTONG translated as "Simplicity" and is the key to "Brilliance". Chef Pam takes an inventive approach to Thai-Chinese flavors with a modern interpretation of classic dishes.

CR: dofskyground

The beginning of this event begins when Chef Gaetan Biesuz invited chef Pam for the collaboration, bringing the Progressive Thai-Chinese cuisine from Restaurant POTONG to Rumari. The idea of the collaboration is to make diners feel fulfilled with memories and to feel that they must come back to see what is going to be next.

Speaking of the concept of Rumari, chef Pam also has the same concept and the same goal for Restaurant POTONG as chef Gaetan. Chef Pam brings a glimpse of POTONG and wants diners to feel a hint of Bangkok, which are memories of her food.

Let’s look at the dish that chef Pam brings to Rumari. This is one of the courses in Restaurant POTONG called “sacred”. It’s a blue crab served with mud crab roe, black pepper jam, and Thai-Chinese style bread. Using local ingredients to bring out its own flavor to the fullest, chef pam selects this signature dish for this collaboration event.

While chef Pam’s dish is based on ingredients in Thailand, chef Gaetan brings the Indonesian cuisine to the next level by presenting his dish, a Bali heritage called Pepes. It’s a lobster cooked with banana leaves by apply the fragrance of the smokiness and the banana leaf together.

Restaurant POTONG was listed in a Michelin Guide in 2022. Congratulation to chef Pichaya “Pam” Utharntharm and her restaurant POTONG. This collaboration is a blessed experience for both chefs. We hope to see both Restaurant POTONG and Rumari will be awarded a star(s) sooner or later.