After 18 years chef David Thompson has decided to walk away from Nahm, the award-winning restaurant he founded in conjunction with Como Hotels. Thompson decided to leave the Bangkok-based venue last year in order to focus on other business opportunities, including the growth of his Thai food group Aylmer Aaharn, and his collection of Australian-based eateries Long Chim. There are also rumours that Thompson has another Thailand-based restaurant in the works, to launch later this year.

The chef is widely revered in the food industry, having been presented with a lifetime achievement award in 2016 for his dedication to Thai food culture at Asia’s 50 Best. Nahm was a reflection of his passion for Thai cuisine, with the restaurant a fixture on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list for seven consecutive years. It was also recently awarded a Michelin star in Bangkok’s inaugural year of the guide.

“Nahm grew into an extraordinary restaurant with its success acknowledged in so many ways. I believe that this has been due to the hard work and talent of all those involved, but most particularly the staff,” comments Thompson on the news of his departure. “For me, the most rewarding aspect is that Nahm has been a happy restaurant. Even as Nahm’s reputation grew, refined its service and succeeded as a business, the restaurant always retained its sense of sanuk; the pleasure in looking after customers. The application of culinary integrity in the kitchen was never to the cost of the joy in doing what we all loved. This is what I will always remember. It is a rare restaurant that can achieve all of this,” he says.

Thompson is to be replaced by Pim Techamuanvivit, who is also the restaurant’s first female chef. Techamuanvivit plans on upholding Nahm’s roots in traditional Thai cuisine, albeit with a personal twist. But for Thompson fans, you’ll still have a chance to make your way to Nahm and experience the chef’s talents for yourself with his final dinner service to be held on Monday, April 30.