Interview with Chef Rungsimet Para – Pastry Chef at Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa

Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa is a five-star resort known for its wonderful location, great facilities, and impeccable service under the management of the Marriott Hotels brand. This luxury getaway destination is located in the far north of Phuket Island, a perfect area for those who seek peace and tranquility. Phuketindex has enjoyed a good relationship with the hotel since its opening in March 2010 and we always hear about its good reputation and strong involvement in charitable activities and community service. It’s been our pleasure to share information about this quality organization. The hotel now ranks second place for hotels in Mai Khao area on tripadvisor.com and has enjoyed a ‘Certificate of Excellence’ year after year. Now Renaissance has new chef joining their culinary team, Mr. Rungsimet Para. We had a chat with him.

Please introduce yourself

I was born in Nakorn Srithammarat Province, in the south of Thailand. I started my culinary career over 13 years ago and worked for some years in Bangkok, Pattaya, and a year in the Maldives before I came to be part of Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa.

Tell us what inspires you

My brother is my inspiration and my mentor. Years ago my brother was a pastry chef at a five-star hotel in Bangkok, the place where I also began my career. He gave me the opportunity to work part time. I had zero experience and as you know it’s not easy to be accepted and employed by a five-star hotel with the lack of qualifications I had at the time. It’s almost impossible, but I got it and I realized later how valuable this was. The first day I worked there after I finished work, my brother and I had a dinner together. He asked me, “What did you do today?” I answered, “Nothing. I only took care of the buffet.”

My brother was very angry and called me useless saying, “You were of no use today.” I started to get angry too and asked “Why”? Well, he began to teach me telling me that this was the perfect time for me to learn and that I had to be more enthusiastic about learning so I told him, “Tomorrow I will do better” and he gave me a chance saying, “Okay. You can try.” Well, the next day I went back to work and started to take note of everything. I wrote it all down and I asked questions. After we finished work, my brother asked me again. I then told him everything I learned throughout the day. He was satisfied.

It became our routine that after work we would have dinner together and my brother would ask me “Do you know how to do this? Do you know how to make that?” so I had to learn more every day to be able to answer him.

Please tell us a bit about the special dish that you’ve created

The special dish I would like to present today is called Mango Sticky Rice Mousse. This is an all-time favourite and the dish brought me ‘1st Gold Medal in Desserts’ at the 2016 Hotel Asia Exhibition & International Culinary Challenge held in the Maldives.

Tell us about the restaurants at Renaissance

Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa has three main restaurants; the first is called Loca Vore and it serves all-day dining. The second is beachside and is called Sand Box Restaurant and Bar and it features light lunch options during the day and offers a BBQ and special cocktails changing everyday starting from 4.30pm. The third restaurant is called Takieng and it serves up captivating Thai cuisine for dinner in a relaxed setting overlooking Mai Khao Beach.

Chef Rungsimet Para has put his heart into the sweet delights he creates and leads his team to deliver what’s best for their guests. His Mango Sticky Rice Mousse and a lot more now awaits you at Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa.