Tammawit Limlertcharoenvanich
An interview with changemaker Tammawit Limlertcharoenvanich, co-owner of House Number 1712
Can you tell me a little about your childhood? Where in Sakon Nakhon did you grow up, what did your parents do, where did you go to school, etc.
Khun Tammawit: I was born in the center of the business area in Sakon Nakhon. My family’s business involved Buddhist groceries, and I would often travel with my parents to the temples around Sakon Nakhon and Isaan. I studied up through high school here and then went to college in Bangkok.
Your restaurant House Number 1712 has been getting rave reviews since it has opened. Can you tell more about your vision for the restaurant? What makes it unique and special?
Khun Tammawit: Even before opening House Number 1712, I was always the kind of person who really enjoyed eating all kinds of food. I love to discover new tastes, new styles, and different international cuisine. Food makes it easy for me to understand the culture of a place. But when I came back to Sakon Nakhon after living in Bangkok, I found that it was hard to find the food or local restaurant that could match my culinary interests and passions.
I talked about the local food situation with a couple of old friends of mine (Zoom and Nhum Noi), and we decided to open House Number 1712. Our concept is to use farm-fresh ingredients combined with culinary know-how and new techniques to serve outstanding food to the Sakon Nakhon people. We love to discover interesting, local ingredients and incorporate them into a dish.
We never stop researching the Sakon Nakhon area, in order to find both new ingredients and cooking techniques. This year, the restaurant has been exploring the theme of “Imagining New Dishes” with local ingredients. These dishes are fun, tasty, and easy for people to understand. However, we will never abandon the history of Sakon Nakhon, and what has always made its traditional food special.
A friend told me about a delicious dish you make with local fish sourced from Nong Han Lake. Can you tell me what this fish is and explain the dish?
Khun Tammawit: We use a local fish call “Yon fish” to make this dish. Actually this fish is one of the most popular ingredients in Sakon Nakhon’s small village markets, but city people don’t know it so well. We got the idea from the Japanese dish “Unagi with Japanese rice”. It’s a dish that we often have seen in Movies and TV series, so we decided that we wanted to make it in our own way and style.
We changed some ingredients from Japanese to Thai, but we still use some Japanese seasoning and sauce, and grill the Yon fish in charcoal.
Currently Thai customers are requested to call ahead to book a table to be sure one is available. This might be difficult for non-Thai speakers. Can a foreign tourist book a table by sending a message on House Number 1712’s Facebook page?
Khun Tammawit: Absolutely! It’ll be my pleasure to assist anyone with a comfortable booking via our Facebook page.
You were involved in last year’s Sakon Junction, a festival celebrating the local arts and food of Sakon Nakhon. Can you tell me more about the festival and your involvement?
Khun Tammawit: Last year’s event was phenomenal! I didn’t expect that so many people would be interested in a festival like this in Sakon Nakhon. This festival fulfilled a dream of mine to have an Arts festival in my home town. The event organizers, including myself, have decided to make it happen again at the end of this year. We are looking forwarding to meeting with more local artisans, restaurants, and businesses that would like to get involved.
Your recently conducted a special 8 course tasting event with the help of Wisdomative. Can you tell us more about this event and Wisdomative? Do you plan on holding another event like this in the future?
Khun Tammawit: Wisdomative and I are very close friends and partners. Wisdomative took care of everything on the table, such as decoration and story-telling, by using local materials to represent Sakon Nakhon arts and culture. Then the preparation of all the dishes was our duty. We plan to collaborate again soon.
Can you share with us how learning English has helped you in your professional success in Thailand?
Khun Tammawit: Yes, definitely. It can’t be denied that English is very important for communication in the modern era. Lots of people have visited Sakon Nakhon for its arts and culture, and most of them are foreigners, who if English isn’t their 1st language, it is what they use to communicate. Communication is the weakest link in connecting local artists or local people to our visitors. They come here wanting learn about local arts and materials, but frequently no can give them the answers. It’s very necessary to know English, not only for communication with foreigners within Thailand, but to connect with the whole world.
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