Bongkoch "Bee" Satongun (Thai: บงกช "บี" สระทองอุ่น; born 1976) is a native Thai chef and restaurateur. She is known for her landmark restaurant, Paste Bangkok, which received a Michelin star.[1] Chef Bee has expanded the Paste brand to neighboring Laos and recently opened a third venue in Australia.[2]
Prior to the opening of Paste, Satongun spent years researching the history of Thai cuisine, re-creating ancient recipes and culinary techniques alongside chef, husband and business partner, Jason Bailey.[3]
Both Satongun and Bailey had humble beginnings, from Satongun's childhood memories of pounding herbs with pestle on mortar to assist her mother's street food stall business in Bangkok,[4] to Bailey's experiences growing up in the Southern Highlands of Australia.[5] She met her husband on one of his earlier research trips to Thailand.[5]
In 2012, Satongun and Bailey opened their first Paste restaurant in the neighborhood of Thonglor. In 2015, they opened a new iteration of Paste in Gaysorn shopping mall, located in Bangkok's Ratchaprasong district adjacent to the Intercontinental Hotel.[6] At Paste, dishes represent regional Thai cuisine, taking inspiration from ancient Thai recipes and royal family cookbooks.[3] Chef Bee hopes to do away with the notion of Thai food as 'cheap takeaway', and re-frame the cuisine in the minds of her diners.[7]
In 2018, Paste Bangkok was awarded its first Michelin star in the inaugural Michelin Guide Bangkok.[8] Paste Bangkok retained its one-Michelin-star rating in 2019.[8] As of 2021, it retains its one Michelin star.[8]
In 2018, Satongun and Bailey opened their first overseas branch of Paste, Paste Laos at the Apsara in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed ancient town of Luang Prabang.[9] Currently, Bailey is working on the development of Paste in Australia.[5]