Born and raised in Ayutthaya, Thailand, Arté Assavakavinvong spent much of his childhood at the local market. His mother ran a food stall where Assavakavinvong loved to watch and help out in any way he could. Following years of questioning his mother's cooking technique and attempting to learn everything he could about the culinary world, Assavakavinvong moved across the globe to Melbourne, to study cookery at William Angliss Institute.
“I decided to focus in Thai cookery to pay respect to my mother’s teachings and my heritage,” said Assavakavinvong. “I wanted more than anything to cook great Thai food and show to Australia the variety and abundance there is in Thai cooking.”
Assavakavinvong has taken pride in sharing his heritage through his culinary expertise and adores serving traditional sharing-style dishes.
“Thai people love to sit down to a meal with family or friends, so everyone at the table can interact with the food and each other.”
Assavakavinvong spent years working his way up through the kitchen ranks until he landed the role of head chef at Longrain in Melbourne, the city’s best Thai restaurant. After making the move to sAme sAme, Assavakavinvong facilitated a successful collaborative event between the two restaurants.
Currently, like many hospitality venues, Assavakavinvong is facing the challenge of trying to balance rising labour, produce, and operating costs without pushing them straight onto customers.
“We need to ensure the cost of labour is sustainable for the business, but this also affects the service and standard of the food,” said Assavakavinvong. “I want fair pay and equality but at some point, something has to give. At the moment I feel like it’s completely out of balance.”
Despite the turbulent times the industry is facing, having the opportunity to showcase Thai cuisine in Australia is not something Assavakavinvong takes for granted. Assavakavinvong uses his success as an opportunity to expand his culinary expertise before passing his knowledge down to the next generation of chefs. Assavakavinvong’s advice to young chefs was to work hard and face the challenges of the hospitality industry head-on.
“If you want to call yourself “Chef”, you also must have discipline and drive. Don’t give up if you fall down but you need to stand up fast, learn from the mistakes and keep improving.”
As for his future in the industry, Assavakavinvong has goals to cement sAme sAme’s place as the best Thai restaurant in Australia. The task is daunting but Assavakavinvong believes with hard work and perseverance the goal will become reality. Further down the path, Assavakavinvong hopes to open a small farm-to-table Thai restaurant, with only a single table, serving local produce through an ever-changing menu, producing minimal waste.
