The Fabulous French Fusionist

Be Your Guest is a 3 room guesthouse and reservation only evening restaurant. Often this fabulous Mediterranean villa is hired out for private and personalised dining.

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In the day, the relaxed European café vibe creates a wonderful oasis away from busy Bangkok. Chef and Owner Fréderic Insisienmay is as passionate, flamboyant, relaxed and creative as the cuisine at possibly the most stylish eatery in Bangkok. Restaurants of Bangkok took time out to eat foie gras cup cakes and share the Frenchman’s joie de vivre when it comes to French fusion food.

What is Be Your Guest?

A retreat, an oasis – we wanted to create an amazingly decorated space with gourmet food and fine wine.

Does fashion exclude people though?

We cook from the heart. The cuisine here is accessible, it’s not just for connoisseurs. We are not about being ceremonial but we still want the best food in life...for everyone.

Fusion has come under a lot of criticism hasn’t it?

Some people don’t understand fusion. They think it is cooking part of a meal in the tradition of one country and another part in the tradition of another and putting them together. It isn’t. It’s about taking those ideas and creating something new.

It seems you have a sense of adventure with your approach to dishes.

Foods and recipes should evolve. When we lived in Laos my mother would use coconut milk instead of crème fraiche and I was brought up with fusion to a certain extent.

You are fusion yourself aren’t you?

Yes! Bangkok is my home but on my dad’s side comes my Laos roots and on my mum’s side my French roots. I have cooked Thai food in France and now I cook French food in Thailand.

Why do you create personalised menus?

I started out here being a personal chef in people’s homes. And we have many private parties here at the restaurant. I like to understand people’s tastes and create something special just for them. Eating is a personal experience.

What do you find are Thai tastes when it comes to French food?

Well, when they like Thai food they love it. Many Thais ask for what I would call the classic French dishes such as soufflé and foie gras – perhaps what would have been popular in the more traditional style of French cuisine. But they are open to some of the interesting twists as well.

You teach cooking in the villa’s kitchen and even how to lay a table is that right?

I teach cooking that people can take home with them. There is no use teaching them something that they have no hope of recreating or with ingredients that are too difficult to get hold of. And yes, we even go into which fork goes where on the table.

What is the philosophy of Be Your Guest?

To enjoy life, to feel at home, to eat the best tasting foods and feel alive! Be Your Guest is an attitude to life.

What are your favorite restaurants in Bangkok?

For French cuisine it is Le Normandie at the Mandarin Oriental, the food is gourmet cuisine and traditional French. The type of place I want to take my grandma and my ma.

I like Bacco for Italian food. I had so many great times in Milan and I love the atmosphere her and the good charcuterie. The food is great and it just reminds me of happy memories."

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