Dine
Chef Bo: “Err”-ing
on the Right Side
of the Future of Food
The imperative of survival writ into one of the most powerful bonds of social life, food is one of the oldest meeting grounds between nature and culture. Outlasting the rise and fall of cities and civilizations, accompanying migrants and travelers on forays into foreign lands, archiving relationships of reciprocity between cultures and the conquest of empires throughout history, traditions of cooking and eating tell us who we are, where we came from and, perhaps, what we’ll become.
Chef Bo and Chef Dylan
Image created by www.facebook.com/BolanBangkok/
And if we follow the movements of food, history matters, literally. Dishes that are the expression of collective identity and history are masticated, softened by saliva, and swallowed. A bolus of information travels through our intestines and is absorbed into the bloodstream, assimilated into cells. Through food, history becomes part of us, inseparable from our identity as well as biological makeup.
A traditional Thai meal carries a gustatory tour of the ancient culinary influences from ancient India, China and the Malay peninsula that entered the region over a thousand years ago. Now ubiquitous chillies are the result of more recent history, brought into Thailand from South America by the Portuguese in the 1600s. Food from different areas of the country provides insight into the local climate, environment and lifestyles of the people who live there, while pickled, brined and fermented vegetables and meats connect us directly to predecessors who prepared and ate the very same meals in an age before modern preservatives and refrigeration.
Thai Food at Err Thai Rustic Cuisine
Image created by www.facebook.com/ERRBANGKOK/
These unsung dimensions of food– the meaning between the lines of a recipe– are a career leitmotiv for Duangporn Songvisava, known colloquially as “Chef Bo”, the renowned co-founder of “Bo.lan”, a Michelin-starred, Thai fine-dining restaurant, and “Err”, an “urban rustic” eatery, with her husband Dylan Thomas.
After completing a Master’s degree in gastronomy in Australia, and working in the kitchens of illustrious restaurants in Thailand and the UK, Chef Bo opened Bo.lan, a restaurant that served as figurative temple for authentic Thai recipes, revitalized and elevated by locally-sourced and seasonal ingredients that showcase the diversity of Thailand’s indigenous flora. The restaurant revived interest in traditional flavors and culinary customs that had waned among Thais living in the metropole, despite the indivisibility of Thai food and identity. Ingredients were made in-house or from local providers deeply connected to their craft. In no time at all, Bo.lan was the star of Bangkok’s booming restaurant scene, which receives around 18,000 new contenders a year, and consistently graced national and international rankings.
Thai basil
Image created by www.facebook.com/ERRBANGKOK/
Poultryman and Organic Chicken Farm
Image created by www.facebook.com/ERRBANGKOK/
Sea Salt
Image created by www.facebook.com/ERRBANGKOK/
As an advocate of sustainability, small-scale agriculture and environmental issues connected to food waste, Chef Bo has leveraged the sphere of influence and platforms available to her as an entrepreneur to amplify important issues and values.
Her efforts to raise awareness of the ecological footprint of the modern food industry through the implementation of zero waste initiatives in her own kitchens, workshops (Bo.lan Educational), and edible garden project are an inspiration for young leaders eager to influence the trajectory of Thailand’s future.
Err Thai Rustic Cuisine at ASAI Sathorn
Image created by www.facebook.com/ERRBANGKOK/
Err Thai Rustic Cuisine
Image created by www.facebook.com/ERRBANGKOK/
Though Bo.lan closed its doors in 2021, Chef Bo’s passion for underrepresented Thai recipes and experimentation with local ingredients was reborn as “Err”, a self-described “urban rustic” Thai eatery with a branch at ASAI Sathorn, a hip, lifestyle hotel owned by Dusit Thani International, in Sathorn soi 12. “If Bo.lan is like a tidy aunt, Err is a playful and cheeky kid,” Bo has shared, but despite the more casual menu, “Err” continues to source local ingredients of quality, and embody Bo.lan’s ethos within a new culinary context.
Chef Bo in Sathorn BKK: More Than A Business District BKKDW2024
In January, Chef Bo joined Sathorn-based luminaries Thomas Santiwarodom, Tatchai Nakapan, Ben-David Sorum and UA Media’s Creative Director, M Aroonrut, for a panel discussion titled “Sathorn BKK: More Than A Business District” at Bangkok Design Week, in which she discussed how the lively urban enclave has played a role in the spectacular fulfillment of her childhood dreams to become a chef. Ideas, insights and experiences were exchanged at the forum, which aims to re-envision Sathron as a neighborhood with a wealth of creativity and culture, in addition to economic opportunity. There, Chef Bo stressed the importance of celebrating Thailand’s culinary heritage, and the many ways, whether quotidian or sophisticated, that we encounter food: " Err Restaurant aims to be a place that offers nostalgic Thai-styled Grilled Pork and Sticky Rice, just like where we had it growing up at St. Louise Market."
Establishments such as “Err”, which are cultivating their own offshoots from the many branches of Thai culture, are the members of a growing community of diverse businesses that make Sathorn a truly inimitable district.