Photo Daniel Food Diary/Youtube
Speaking
to Eater, Fai, real name Supinya
Junsuta, said that since the news of the star was announced, “Many people come
just to see and take pictures and not necessarily to eat”. People presumably
want to get snaps of Fai in action, cooking in her own unique style complete
with ski goggles and the odd hairdryer to fan the flames under her spitting
woks.
However,
there is plenty of demand for Fai’s famous crab omelets and spicy noodle
dishes, though it has always been one of the most expensive street food spots
in the city, with the former costing around $25. Lines outside the restaurant
in the city’s old town can stretch up to two hours. Fai’s daughter, Varisa
Junsuta, says her mother, who works 11 hours day, is “getting tired more
easily” as a result of all the extra attention.
She
is the latest in a line of chefs wanting to relinquish their Michelin stars.
Last year, three-Michelin-star chef Sebastian Bras wrote to Michelin asking not
be included in the next Guide, as he felt the pressure of maintaining Michelin
standards was stifling his restaurant’s creativity, while more recently another
French chef, Jérôme Brochot, requested to return his restaurant’s star because
he couldn’t afford the costs of maintaining a Michelin-starred restaurant.
By FDL