Owl Brasserie joins the ranks alongside other long-standing fine dining and artisan restaurants in Northern Thailand.
Last month, Chef Roman Sturn joined a dozen other exceptional chefs at the 2025 edition of Thailand’s Favourite Restaurants by Koktail Chefs and Restaurants Awards, taking place in Bangkok on November 20, 2024.
As the sole Chiang Mai representative at the event, he wowed diners of the subsequent charity dinner with a melt-in-the-mouth chocolate dessert made from local chiang mai cocoa and his unique creative flair.
As a big fan of his legacy at Tea Leaf Lab, all focus is now on Owl Brasserie, his latest project that takes a strong sustainable take on European cuisine using locally sourced ingredients from Chiang Mai and the north.
“I want to bring Thai ingredients to the Western palette in a way that’s creative yet familiar,” said Chef Roman while leaning against his brand new stainless-steel kitchen recently installed into the old house at the end of Soi Chantharawirot, just inside the Old City moat.
“We make sure to reduce waste, pickling, smoking or stocking all our food offcuts and try to use ingredients that are less commonly used,” he continued. Examples of this include his creative insert of tangy wing beans into tartare sauce, salted caramel chicken tea and a Thai sourced roe for his take on ‘taramasalata’.
To keep things fresh (literally and figuratively) Chef Roman changes up his menu every three months, however some of his most beloved dishes will remain a constant, most notably the incredible duck liver better mandarin, a savory tidbit that was inspired by his many years working in Michelin starred pastry kitchens.
On stage at the awards ceremony, Chef Roman boldly stated “It’s not just Bangkok anymore,” noting that among his peers, a number of chefs from outside of the capital are finally earning recognition. While talking over a lunch of smoked ham and homemade picalilli, he added that “there’s a ton of growing talent in Chiang Mai, authentic to their own cuisine types.” Needless to say, he’s as excited as we are about what’s next for Chiang Mai’s food scene.
Yet already, this award ceremony marked a clear turning point for fine dining as Owl Brasserie joins the ranks alongside other long-standing fine dining and artisan restaurants in Northern Thailand.
Blackkitch Artisan Kitchen (Chiang Mai), Locus Native Food Lab (Chiang Rai) and Redbox (Chiang Mai) each took home a ‘Thailand's Best’ award, while Something Journey (Chiang Rai) was presented with a Neighborhood’s Favourite award.
In total, 102 awards were presented at the award ceremony which has entered its twentieth year promoting the country as a true fine dining destination. In addition to our Northern Thailand winners, Chef Chudaree “Tam” Debhakam and Chef Davide Garavaglia both were awarded with the prestigious Chef of the Year award along with many other Bangkok and Phuket based restaurants taking home awards celebrating excellence of service, pioneering sustainability, wine sommeliers, exceptional drink pairings and innovative cuisine. The full list of winning chefs and restaurants can be found here.
For more information and booking at Owl Brasserie, visit their website here.
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