#181 Chanon Boriharnvanakhet

Everyone calls Chanon Boriharnvanakhet Chachi, so I am just going along with that too. Chachi is head chef at Tonka, having taken over the reins three and a half months ago. It’s his first head chef role, having never really set out to climb the ranks, and so he is feeling his way carefully, talking to staff, feeling the room and making the role his own. Chachi is a thoughtful chef; thoughtful about the Australian ingredients he wants to bring in to dishes and thoughtful about the way he works with staff to assure their wellbeing. I went in to Tonka right before lunch service and it was all happening. Tables were being set, glasses polished, ice buckets readied. I felt lucky to be part of it and lucky to get to talk to Chachi at the start of this head chef role at such an iconic Melbourne venue. When I spoke to owner Mykal Bartholomew for a Broadsheet article on the new direction for Coda and Tonka, Mykal described Tonka as a beast. It might be a narrow restaurant, but it’s long and there are a lot of covers. I get the feeling Chachi has it all in hand.