The secret of Trattoria Delina in Bangkok is the cuisine of Wi Bunyanuch
True Italian Cuisine Speaks Thai. When Thailand and Italy meet in the kitchen, two cultural worlds compare and understand each other. This is the experience of Wi Bunyanuch, chef of Trattoria Delina, in Bangkok. 
di Francesco Tortora
Mercoledì 22 Giugno 2022
Dal nostro corrispondente a Bangkok - 22 giu 2022 (Prima Pagina News)
True Italian Cuisine Speaks Thai. When Thailand and Italy meet in the kitchen, two cultural worlds compare and understand each other. This is the experience of Wi Bunyanuch, chef of Trattoria Delina, in Bangkok. 

When she looks at you, the depth of her eyes, rich with a deep, self-aware humanity, intimidate you. They warn you, as if to say, "Be careful what is coming out of your mouth, weigh the words, if you feel they are unnecessary, don't speak them. Then her smile, brightens her face and the dialogue becomes more serene. That human depth that you infer at the first moment is slowly revealed as she recounts her past and existential experience. 

Wi Bunyanuch, a Thai native is deeply versed in all things Italian; in fact, she married an Italian, Giuseppe Tumiotto, the soul and active driving force behind Trattoria Delina. Today, Giuseppe Tumiotto, widening his equally bright and humanly profound smile, reveals that he relies completely on the professionalism of his wife, who has become so greatly experienced in the kitchen that she can individually manage the staff, the management of ingredients, and the preparation of pizzas and typical Italian dishes at the same time. 

Wi Bunyanuch says, "We met on 2016 in Turin, attending a Southern Italian Cooking Course, Calabrese-specifically. 

 

What do you remember about that time and the city of Turin? 

 

Turin is a very beautiful city, at every corner you can breathe the air of History not only of that city but of the whole nation. For someone like me, however, born in a tropical country, when it is cold, well, it is too intense. Too much snow, that's what I remember most, the much cold and the much snow. Rereading that experience with today's eyes, given the rising cost of energy sources, as we used gas to warm ourselves at home, we always kept the heating system on. Who knows what we would spend nowadays. 

 

Did you live the Italian experience intensely, I mean, not only in terms of your knowledge of the cuisine but also of the Culture more generally? 

 

I traveled about twenty times between Italy and Thailand during that time as my knowledge of Italian Culinary Art became more and more advanced. Thus, I had the opportunity to compare two cultures that were very different but -in some traits- very similar on some aspects, such as -for example- the attention to detail, the love for beauty, in all its forms and finally, just the passion towards one's own Cuisine, experienced as an element of strong identity of one's own people and Culture. 

 

Italian Cuisine, in fact, has since become your profession. Did you bring all this with you to the kitchen of Trattoria Delina? 

 

I fully embraced, from the very beginning, the idea of following tradition. By this I mean, preparing typical Italian recipes, as if it were "Grandma's Kitchen," with a family atmosphere, so that those who -being Italian- can rediscover the flavors of their home world and their everyday life and -for those who are not Italian, Thai or foreigner who are- the possibility of being able to say "I had the experience of tasting and enjoying real Italian Cuisine." Another essential point on which I agreed from the beginning, in identifying Trattoria Delina's strategies, was that of wanting to see -as much as possible- customers satiated and happy. I do not like the idea of de-structuring Italian dishes and presenting them in forms that are stylistically appreciable but far from the original spirit. And especially in dishes with skimpy portions. The characteristic of Italian cuisines, of all the Regions of Italy, is precisely the simple approach, after careful selection of the quality of ingredients, the dish has a colorful, happy and joyful vision. Here, our customers can enjoy all this and in the end, feel full and happy in having enjoyed dishes just as if it were Grandma's Cuisine. 

 

But if the customer then asks you for Carbonara with milk cream, what do you do, tell him that it is not in the Italian tradition? I know, it is a now "classic" question of its kind, in asking chefs. 

 

I prepare it for him as he asks. In my experience, the customer-Thai or foreigner-is educated on the subject, he knows very well what to expect, when you talk to him about Italian Cuisine. If he comes to an Italian restaurant nowadays, he knows very well what to expect even in its smallest details. Not only the Japanese, who have been educated on this subject for a long time, but a little bit of all foreigners and even Thais who come here to us, know very well what the real Italian culinary tradition is. There is, however, also a slice of internationalized clientele that loves the "fusion" version of certain dishes, cultural contaminations, even before strictly culinary. We try to give a positive response to all types of customers, always. 

 

Do you have any particular plans for the future, for example, setting up your own restaurant, creating your own Brand, as happened often in the recent past a little bit all over the world? 

 

No, believe me, the work in the kitchen is a lot and quite stressful. It is difficult to explain how much and what stress you experience in the kitchen when it is your daily profession. All this is more than enough for me. My project, in the short term, is just to be able to relax and relieve stress. And believe me, that is no small thing. 

 

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