Stretching the tastebuds | Canvas, Bangkok

With so much lively activity along Thong Lor Soi 55, it’s easy to walk past Canvas, which would be a mistake. A small sign advertising the restaurant is easily missed, and the restaurant’s disguised appearance as a teeming nursery bulging with greenery and choice shrubbery is ill-suited. I suggest installing a bowler-hatted door attendant, but until such time, you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled and have your wits about you – the city’s moped Grab drivers are crazed lunatics. If you do happen to spot Canvas, then I can assure you, you’ll have discovered one of Bangkok’s most exciting restaurants.

I spot such grandiloquent words like “Artistry”, “Stimulating” and “Progressive” – omnipresent industry terminology that confuses rather than informs

I had heard whispers of Riley Sanders’ creations for a while, whispers that seemed to be increasing in volume. The young Texan has a familiar story; falling in love with Southeast Asia during his travels in 2013, he decided to stay and lay down roots in Bangkok, opening Canvas in 2016. The young chef – he’s still under 30 years old – is fast becoming one of the culinary driving forces in the city, yet a quick scan of the online menu and I found it difficult to pinpoint the cuisine: “Our menu changes seasonally to reflect the best Thai ingredients,” it declared, but then I spot such grandiloquent words like “Artistry”, “Stimulating” and “Progressive” – omnipresent industry terminology that confuses rather than informs.

The food appeared as an eclectic mix of ingredients, styles and applied techniques. Perhaps this is a reflection of the chef’s experience under Laurent Grass at the then three-star L20 restaurant in Chicago and his work as a private chef on luxury yachts. Riley’s approach appears profoundly personal, visiting the suppliers and nearby market himself, specifically Khlong Toei wet market, to see, smell and sample the best ingredients. Knowing this fact offers insight into his approach. There’s something impressive about this kid in his twenties, this young Texan farang, getting lost in the commotion and lunacy of a Thai market. These places bulge with local arrogance and anti-tourist sentiment, particularly Khlong Toei, which is the real deal and less tolerant of tourists than those peddling wood carvings and Thai elephant fisherman pants. I could tell you gruesome tales of the things I’ve seen in Khlong Toei; sloshing buckets of sad pigs’ heads and the skinning of live, croaking bullfrogs, but this isn’t the platform for it.

So enough gory detail. Back to the restaurant with its restrained, monochrome interior, all plush and perkily ordered. It has a deep-set and open kitchen, and there’s counter dining with spinning high-bar seating and a polished golden surface. Artwork stretches across the length of the back wall in twilight shades of yellow and burnt orange, Rothko-esque in hues. However, Riley’s creativity shines where it should: on the plates. That said, an exposed kitchen reveals a contemporary cooking lab of shiny, modern appliances, suggesting the seriousness of this operation and a young team – mostly Western chefs – doing cheffy things. Ingredients, sourcing and presentation are all of the highest standards, a perfect balance of sea and farm, shifting and adapting to the seasons, just as the website suggests.

A beefy specimen, the innards are removed and mixed with diced kumquat, lemongrass and dala, then reattached to the head and plated with artistic flair

From the nine-course tasting menu, the crayfish is the standout dish in its presentation and taste. A beefy specimen, the innards are removed and mixed with diced kumquat, lemongrass and dala, then reattached to the head and plated with artistic flair. It really is a beautifully presented plate of food, paired nicely with an “un-oaked” Chardonnay from Chile. But hang on; another standout: toasted rice bread is a disk-shaped biscuit of rice with brown butter, salted egg and yellow chilli, a creation which straddles classification. It’s soft but crunchy with a hint of iron from the grated egg and then the creeping warmth of the chilli, Kristian Yellow Thai Chillies, maybe. I’ve never tasted anything like it. Riley’s application of spices and herbs is impressively assured, adding new depths to recipes and showcasing a legion of Thai ingredients – coriander, garlic, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and any number of heat-ranging Thai chillies across the Scoville Scale, some that strike hard, then fall away with a whimper, others like Prik Kee Noo that make you shit your Thai fisherman pants.

There’s blue swimmer crab with sticky rice, and when I need it, a meaty dose of pig in the form of pork belly and jicama (a sweet and crunchy Mexican yam) with flecks of coriander and bitter soybean. The only bum note was the line-caught grouper from Surat Thani, served with a wild almond and ma kwan pepper sauce that tasted too sweet for me, the overt milky-sweetness of the almonds masking the quality of the fish. However, this was soon forgotten: a perfectly-pink duck breast with Marian plum sauce, the duck, sourced from Khlong Phai Farm in Khao Yai, was brilliant and perfectly cooked, followed by a Thai wagyu tenderloin. It was some of the best beef I’ve eaten in Thailand, which is not saying a great deal.

A series of desserts are just on the right side of gluttonous; neither dainty nor huge, but with enough assured sweetness. First is lychee with orchid and roselle flowers and then jackfruit with lime and toasted milk, recipes that slap you with a miscellany of exciting and contrasting flavours, just like the best Thai food does. Citrus blends juxtapose with strawberry-like lychees and subtly tangy roselle, then kapow! there’s that citrus again, pairing lime against the much-maligned jackfruit and warm, toasted milk. So often, everything crumbles with dessert in Asia, the sweets never living up to the savoury courses. And because of the abundance of tropical fruits in these parts of the world, they almost always involve soft, smooshy fruits paired with palm sugar, honey or some sort of overtly perfumed floral addition. But, you know what; I left properly, lovingly and unforgettably gobsmacked. Everything was creative and colourful, plates and bowls electrified with powders, purées, spices and flicks of vivid creams.

This is, to date, the best meal I’ve eaten in Bangkok. I’m getting tired of writing such gushing hyperbole on the city’s new breed of fine dining restaurants. Still, Bangkok’s brigade of young chefs are producing food of breathtaking quality, much of it rooted in the traditions of Thai cooking, then applied using modern-European techniques. The menu is priced at 2,600 Baht, which is a steal for cooking at this standard. Just brilliant. A wine pairing costs another 2,000 Baht. Canvas is firmly in the mix of Bangkok’s best new fine dining restaurants, and Riley Sanders, this young kid from Texas, absolutely someone to watch. Just remember to watch out for those goddamn moped Grab drivers on Thong Lor. C

Canvas, 113/9-10 Soi Sukhumvit 55, Khlong Tan Nuea, Bangkok, 10110, Thailand
canvasbangkok.com; +66 (0) 99 614 1158