B
eing awarded a Michelin star is impressive enough. Being awarded one in the first three months of the restaurant opening is almost unfathomable. But, as the chef John Chantarasak has proved, not impossible.
AngloThai started off as somewhat of a nomadic restaurant. Having hopped around London — teasing customers with various pop-ups — in the autumn of 2024, the restaurant (owned by Chantarasak and his wife) finally found its ideal home in the heart of Marylebone. According to the Britain-born chef, “AngloThai is essentially centred around the two sides of my heritage — my father is from Bangkok and my mother is from the UK.”
John Chantarasak
Chantarasak has made quite the career switch. He started his working life as a musician. He then moved into the finance world. It was in 2013, when he found himself unfulfilled by the corporate hustle, that he loaded up his backpack and went on a journey of self-discovery around America. Quickly realising that his decisions on destinations were boiling down to restaurants to visit or dishes to try, he signed himself up for a culinary course in Bangkok. After various kitchen jobs around Thailand, he made his way back to England, where he got a job at the award-winning Som Saa restaurant. He worked there for five years, before spreading his wings and flying into his AngloThai venture.
