Montara Hospitality Group’s constellation of culinary stars is shining as brightly as ever following the MICHELIN Guide Thailand Revelation held in Bangkok today.
At the grand unveiling, which took place this year at the Capella Bangkok, PRU, the signature community-to-fork dining venue at Trisara, the exclusive Phuket resort which is owned by Montara Hospitality, retained its MICHELIN red star. The restaurant, steered by Dutch chef Jimmy Ophorst, also held on to its MICHELIN Green Star, awarded for its strong commitment to sustainability.
PRU, which just premiered its new purpose-built venue, is the only MICHELIN red star restaurant in Phuket, a status it has held for six consecutive years.
There was good news too for JAMPA, which follows a philosophy of “locally-grown ingredients, live fire, and zero waste cuisine” at Tri Vananda, a US$182 million wellness community taking shape in the verdant forests of northern Phuket. The venue overseen by Rick Dingen retained its MICHELIN Green Star.
“It’s an absolute honour for PRU to achieve such recognition from MICHELIN,” said Ophorst. “It’s a tribute to everything that we have achieved as a team and also to our culinary philosophy. What we do at PRU is to create a unique dining experience by drawing inspiration from around Thailand. By discovering local ingredients and herbs that are not overly familiar, we can fuel our creativity.”
“The standards required to earn a MICHELIN green star are extremely stringent so it’s a massive achievement for us to retain the accolade,” said Dingen. “JAMPA innovates by using only live fire to transform local ingredients into amazing culinary creations with an emphasis on healthy and balanced food that is good for one’s body and soul.”
The accolades bestowed on the two venues are indicative of the standards PRU and JAMPA are setting for sustainable fine dining in Phuket.
PRU has blazed a trail for sustainable fine dining in Thailand. And its latest “Inside-Out” experience, housed in a new purpose-built restaurant, dissolves the traditional wall between the kitchen and the dining room.
With a theatre kitchen encouraging connections with guests, diners can see how each morsel is prepared, thereby providing complete transparency to the culinary process.
“We’ve come a long way to be where we are now,” added Ophorst. “But we want to look forward to attracting customers from around the world to Phuket with the objective of dining at PRU. Every chef wants to improve and push to the highest level possible and I’m no different. The creative scope that the new venue affords us means that the sky’s the limit.”
JAMPA, meanwhile, is a beacon for zero-waste, farm-to-table, live-fire cooking, manifesting what is sustainable culinary artistry.
“I aim to showcase locally sourced, seasonal ingredients in the best way possible,” says Dingen, whose hyper-local, plant-focused, cuisine is marking him out as a rising star in Thailand.
