An Australian, who earned a Michelin star with curry - and ended up in Slovenia

2. december 2016 ob 11.33 • Kobarid - MMC RTV SLO

David Thompson felt great with the international team in the Hiša Franko kitchen. Foto: MMC RTV SLO

It was the morning after the US presidential elections and Andy Ricker was sitting in the corner of the Hiša Franko restaurant feeling despondent. Ricker is somewhat of an icon in the world of culinary with in depth knowledge of everything about Thailand. He guided Anthony Bourdain through Bangkok's food joints in the hit TV show Parts Unknown. And what happens in Bangkok stays in Bangkok, right?

Ricker - a rock star among chefs - arrived in Slovenia in passing and incognito, mostly because of his good friend and role model David Thompson, who was coincidentally also in Slovenia at the time. Thompson is an Australian chef, who after opening ventures in Sydney and London, in 2010 opened Nahm in Bangkok. Today Nahm it's considered to be the best Thai food restaurant - it was also crowned best Thai restaurant in Asia.
Thompson was the secret guest chef (even though he doesn't like to be called a chef) who swapped his kitchen for the kitchen of Ana Roš for one evening, as part of the Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle in which 40 of the best chefs in the world participated. And while Roš put her skills to the test in one of the most acclaimed Danish restaurants, Relae, Thompson was discovering Slovenia, together with the well-stocked wine cellar of Valter Kramar, Ljubljana's čevapdžinice, and the inns of the Friuli region.
Thompson, a 56-year-old Australian, fell in love with Thailand 30 years ago. He immersed into its culture and dived into Thailand's "funeral books" with recipes i.e. royal thai. He infused with the humid, tropical, magnetic, and beastly attraction of Bangkok before he opened Nahm (water in thai). He tackled his Slovenian episode with the same enthusiasm, hedonism and casualness, but also with a lot of heart.
Upon his arrival to Slovenia he also caught up with Roš, who served him some of her artwork, which is on the itinerary of every true foodie thanks to Netflix's series Chef's Table. He then combed through all the mandatory Slovenian culinary stops, from Bled and Piran to, well, the čevapi at Sarajevo '84.
When he opened his first Nahm restaurant at The Halkin hotel in London in 2001, he received his first Michelin star in just six months - it was also the first Michelin star for a Thai food restaurant. Nine years later he moved Nahm to Bangkok and is now regularly on the list of 50 best restaurants in the world. Nahm was also named best restaurant in Asia. Locals in Thailand have slowly started accepting Nahm as one of their own.