3Q&A: THAI BARTENDER PONGPAK
Pongpak Sudthipongse – known to friends as ‘Ton’ – is an ambassador for Thai hospitality. With a background in engineering, Ton combines his passion for mixology with a love of Asian cuisine and a technically sustainable approach at Sorrento restaurant and cocktail bar, Bangkok. He’s been involved in the Thai bar industry for many years, pushing the boundaries to create Asian fine dining experiences and experimental cocktails that have wowed and inspired the Bangkok scene. After winning World Class Thailand in 2015, Ton went on to be crown Worlds Most Experimental Bartender Award, sponsored by Glenfiddich, in 2019, alongside his close friend and seafood expert Natacorn Changrew (also know as ‘Thumb’).
1. Where do you see opportunity for bars and bartenders in Thailand in 2021?
2020 was a brutal year for us all, but prior to 2020, Thailand is on the rise in term of top bar scene in Asia.
For me, I think we’re riding on three pillars:
Becoming a top destination for tourism. Thailand is a growing market for international visitors, ranging from business travel to lifestyle. We pride ourselves in world-class hospitality and services as we are known as ‘The Land of Smile’. In the past few years, we have seen many new investments (top hotels, restaurants, bars) to accommodate growing demands, while our F&B industry is well populated with talent – both locals and imported!
The local bartender talent pool is growing! Perhaps it’s from the increased demand in tourism services that we see such acceleration. The new generation of Thai bartenders is filled with passion and thirst for knowledge, both in modern and traditional technique (which requires high degree of finesse). In the past few years, we’ve produced a handful of global competition winners, including myself with Glenfiddich’s World’s Most Experimental Bartender Competition 2019 (The other two are Ronnaporn, who won Bacardi Legacy 2019, and Arron, winner of Chivas Masters 2018). The recent bar mentorship programs also play an important role in grooming new generations of bartenders for the years to come.
Access to abundant resources from the forest, plantations, and the sea. In other words, we are getting most of our ingredients fresh! With the rise of the modern cocktail movement, the consumers’ pallet is more demanding and adventurous than ever, so having access to multitudes of exotic resources to play with is advantageous. In my bar, we are able to make some of these exotic flavours from scratch, such as lotus, hibiscus, riceberry, Siam flower tincture and, of course, my aromatic chilli extract. For a few years now I have been developing the ‘Fine Dining Cocktail’ category, which is not just good cocktails in a restaurant, but a more delicate culinary approach to making mixed drinks that suit the customer’s experience in a fine dinning environment. I think two to three years from now, we will start to see this category grow. And I hope Thailand will be one of the top destinations when you visit Asia!
2. WHAT'S BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE COLLABORATION WITH A BRAND IN 2020?
2020 was not the year for brand promotion, so I do understand that many brands have had to refocus themselves to survival mode. Smaller brands that we’ve come to love will likely be more prone struggle, just like our F&B businesses, so all we ask from them is to survive to see better days with us! On the other hand, the brand that stands out most, in my opinion, has to be Campari Group Thailand with their Shaken Not Broken campaign. Their aim is to help not just bartenders, but restaurants and bars survive in this tough time. They help us with their own delivery channel as well as raising funds to help bartenders in need. William Grant & Sons is also very supportive and willing to support many of our campaigns during this tough time.
3. ARE THERE ANY DRINKS/BRANDS/PRODUCTS THAT ARE BLOWING YOUR MIND AT THE MOMENT?
In my opinion, 2020 should be seen as the year of simplicity. The survival of our business is in the hands of our most loyal customers; they are the ones who will support us through thick and thin. Being able to provide good products and services to them should be the priority (even more so now than ever). Making sure all your bar staff can make a proper martini and daiquiri may be more important than launching a new cocktail menu at the moment. With that said, I was impressed by Iain McPherson’s switching technique! We can certainly see huge opportunities in using it to make new variations of drinks in the near future.
Follow Ton on Instagram @pongpaks
Follow Thumb on Instagram @thumbntk