Idea-provoking celebrity intellectual and design guru Paravi Wongchirachai shares a fulfilling meal with Cod Satrusayang at Bonjour

Impressions of French Indochina linger wistfully in theevening air. The description seems appropriate. After all, amidst the hustle and bustle of downtown Bangkok on mid-Sukhumvit, Bonjour, with its high walls, manicured garden and friendly, energetic staff, the place feels more colonial Saigon than Ratanakosin.

In the reception area, admiring paintings of various Parisian landmarks by owner Xavier Bruzaud-Grille’s father, we almost miss the arrival of our guest. That is probably the way Paravi Wongchirachai would like it. The former curator of the Thailand Creative and Design Centre located at the Emporium and now director of the National Discovery Museum Institute prefers to do his work behinds the scene. As someone who has been employed for a good part of the last decade as a promoter of creativity and learning, Albert, as he is more commonly known, slips readily into his educator role eliciting more conversation than providing it. Our shared dislike of bureaucracy will have to wait though as our talk is interrupted by the aroma of hors d’oeuvres. Oysters, including a vinegar-based creation and one baked with fromage, arrive. They are delightful, deliciously complimented by a white wine.

While the food is extremely congruous, Albert tells us that bureaucracy, specifically government budgets, are anything but. It all becomes a big balancing act he surmises, having to “accommodate the needs of knowledge workers on the one hand with those of the bureaucrats on the other. If the knowledge workers aren’t happy, we have no content to offer the public. If the bureaucrats aren’t happy, we have no public funding. Keeping both sides in sync with each other day to day is a real challenge.”

The real challenge for us this evening, though, is to get through Bonjour’s luxurious Christmas Eve menu, each succeeding course as delicious as the last. From pan-fried duck liver foie gras to the fillet of Dover sole cooked with truffles and salted butter, the rich delights slowly but surely fill us. The main course, roasted back of deer with foie gras game sauce, is the wonderful meal’s culinary crescendo.

The conversation shifts back to Thailand. In these uncertain times we both agree that only through conciliation can we hope to get back on track. Education is the most important element, and for a director of design and knowledge initiatives this is doubly true. For him, the biggest problem with Thailand is the populace’s mindset about order and where people stand. As Albert says, “We have to make the content relevant to the viewer. The historical tendency in Thailand is to put knowledge on a pedestal, as something to be venerated. But that ossifies the knowledge into a relic of the past. What we need is the capacity to reinterpret our past, so it becomes relevant, inspiring and useful.”

Bonjour’s story is one of relevance and inspiration, Christmas menu notwithstanding. The brainchild of Bruzaud-Grille and chef Thierry Enderlin, its central concept is to use as much imported produce relevant to the authentic preparation of its dishes as is logistically possible. Carbon footprint be damned, the aim is that once diners get a taste of the vibrancy and uniqueness of first-class ingredients they will be hooked.