Here at Tenerife Dining, we appreciate good food. Every month we pay homage to the best Chefs on the Island by awarding them the highly coveted 'Chef of the Month'.

Varaporn - Thai Botanico

Varaporn, Thai Botanico’s Chef in the Safari Centre.

Robbie and Neil, creators of Thai Botanico, knew Varaporn from when she came to Tenerife 12 years ago, and she was the natural choice for their new venture.

The King & I was the only Thai Gourmet restaurant in Playa de Las Americas, and Varaporn was working as a waitress.  This is where she first met Robbie, and she tells us that over the years she has seen customers return with their children, who have then grown up and returned themselves with their girlfriends and kids of their own.  “I feel like I’m on a boat sailing downriver, looking ahead.  My own daughter is already 15!” she tells us.

She continues to say “I accepted Robbie’s offer immediately – he is a professional and has good taste, just look at how beautifully the restaurant is decorated!  We work together smoothly, speak the same language, know whats happening and we understand each other perfectly, so it makes for a great working environment.”

Vara has natural talent; having learnt the art of fine cooking from her mother.  “I only copy what I was taught,” she says, with a gesture that downplays the brilliance of her cooking “but I know when to put the herbs and spices into the dishes, and the tricks of my country.  In England I worked in a Malaysian restaurant, starting as a waitress and working my way up to a Chef’s job due to illness.”

As we look around the restaurant, we see the delighted faces of people eating, and a client and friend of mine told me that Varaporns cooking is “better than sex!” – we roared with laughter.

Thai Botanico restaurant opened 3 months ago, and they didn’t advertise at all, yet it is always crowded.  Everyone on the Island knows when Robbie opens a new restaurant.

Varaporn cooks traditional dishes from Bangkok, but avoids saturating every dish with Nam Pla (fish sauce), since most customers are not used to the fish flavours in meat dishes.  Her favoured dish is Green Curry – she uses an amazing 200 tins of coconut milk, and on San Valentin’s day alone, she cooked 100 Green Curries!  We also recommend the Dakra Spicy curry and the Patay stir fry, an unusual dish in Thailand.

If you visit and want the dishes cooked authentically, all you need to do is ask, and they will cook with Nom Pla, and traditional spices.

Archive

August - Restaurant Bianco - Marcello Corrao

March - Bombay Blue - Abbas Safdar

February - Babis - Taberna El Greco

October - Benjamin Bertl - Comer Beber Amar

September - Thierry Goubert - La Estancia