‘Don't they sell tyres?': Thai street food chef on life with a Michelin star

[daf]

Jay Fai’s shophouse is doing a roaring trade as tourists arrive to snap photos and wait half a day for a table

A 70-year-old Thai street food seller who makes wok-fired dishes has been awarded a Michelin star at the launch of Bangkok’s first guide.

Jay Fai, or Auntie Fai, is known for her scorching portions of noodles with prawns and crab, cooked over charcoal fires. The eccentric chef wears ski goggles to protect her eyes from the hot oil sloshing around giant woks in her tiny shophouse.

“I was excited from the very first step I made in here,” said Jay Fai as she accepted the award on Wednesday at the five-star Grand Hyatt hotel, dressed in a white chef’s outfit. Her restaurant, an open kitchen with tiled walls and metal stools that spill out into the street, also sells rich, yellow crab curries.

Open daily in the old part of the Thai capital, the restaurant was one of 17 awarded stars, decided by Michelin after months of secret inspections. The other awardees consisted mainly of French haute cuisine restaurants, such as Le Normandie, where a jacket is “compulsory for gentlemen during dinner”, as well as upscale Thai restaurants.

While Michelin has a reputation for fine dining, it claims it is not all white tablecloths and silver cutlery. In 2010, a Hong Kong dim sum hole-in-the-wall was awarded a star and the guide gave a star to a Singapore chicken rice hawker last year.

Chawadee Nualkhair, a Bangkok-based street food blogger, said: “Jay Fai is like the Queen of Thai street food. She could have done anything with her fame: chain restaurants, street food branches, a fancy secondary location, but she didn’t. She stayed at her open-air shophouse with her two woks. I’m glad she’s finally getting some recognition.”

The prices are, however, not in keeping with street food, which locals put down to her large portions. A Jay Fai favourite is her browned, thick crab omelette for which she charges about £20.

[soi16]

 

[KittenKong]

12 hours ago, daf said:

The prices are, however, not in keeping with street food, which locals put down to her large portions. A Jay Fai favourite is her browned, thick crab omelette for which she charges about £20.

 

800+B for an omelette from a street vendor? I wonder how much she charges those taking photos.

[Mognam]

18 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

800+B for an omelette from a street vendor? I wonder how much she charges those taking photos.

what, back at the room without her clothes on?