The buzz: Chef Ruangrit Teparak, formerly of Salt, has abandoned Ari for the resolutely less hip Bang Na. Salt had come to define Ari, perhaps even more so than Pla Dib, so it's a bit of a shock that its chef would head for the 'burbs, down an anonymous soi tucked behind CentralPlaza Bangna. But with his new partner, Andrew Bunnag, a landscape designer based in Hua Hin, they've found a high-ceilinged space to dial things back, focus on a slightly shorter menu (it still requires its own clipboard) and introduce Greater Bangkok to the joys of fusion cuisine, a-la-Ari.
The decor: The vast open space provides plenty of room between tables, high-ceiling windows and an outdoor terrace. Bunnag held on to elements from the restaurant's actual construction site and added a few more picked up at salvage yards--such as a concrete mixer or massive chains. The result is an interesting variation on industrial chic, and true to the restaurant's name, is more idealized construction site than Kinfolk-magazine-worthy workshop.
The food: Ruangrit's menu spans sushi, pizza, steaks and fusion dishes. If that sounds too ambitious, know that he packed in the crowds for years at Salt doing just that. His prominent pizza oven is the real deal, he can slice raw fish convincingly enough and his frequent trips to Europe show in his French dishes. That means you can have a thin crust pizza with parma ham, a giant tub of sashimi on ice, or even kimchi fried rice under one roof. We particularly like the fusion dishes, where his personality comes through a bit more.
Why you should care: If you don't live in Bang Na, you probably care more about what this means for Salt than anything else. But denizens of the eastern 'burbs will definitely see this as a sign their neck of the woods could be on its way to getting craft beers, cold brews and eggs Benedict at every street corner. In the meantime, locals now have a trendy one-stop-shop to grab some sashimi, a pizza or venture into some fusion cuisine.
