Thai food meets Austrian wine at AngloThai

At Michelin-starred AngloThai, an Austrian wine pairing rooted in long-standing grower relationships is shaping a distinctive approach to pairing Thai flavours with cool-climate wines.

At AngloThai, food and wine have always evolved in tandem. From the outset, the Marylebone restaurant has been conceived as a meeting point between bold Thai flavours and British produce, with the drinks programme developed alongside the food rather than as an afterthought.

While chef John Chantarasak leads the kitchen, front of house and wine direction sit firmly with Desiree Chantarasak, whose list has consistently focused on cool-climate European wines chosen for their brightness, aromatic lift and ability to sit comfortably alongside complex, spice-driven dishes.

The latest evolution of that thinking is an Austrian wine pairing, which has now been introduced at the restaurant. Rather than drawing on more familiar wine regions often associated with Thai cuisine, the decision reflects both personal relationships and a longer-term commitment to Austria’s low-intervention producers.

Austrian wines as a natural fit

From its earliest days, AngloThai’s wine programme has been shaped in close collaboration with Modal Wines and Newcomer Wines, both of which specialise in Austrian producers working with biodynamic and minimal-intervention principles. Through those relationships, Austrian wine became integral to the restaurant’s identity rather than a stylistic diversion.

The pairing draws on wines from across Austria, including Kamptal and the Wachau, featuring producers such as Christian Tschida, Claus Preisinger and Nibiru. The result is a line-up designed to complement the restaurant’s seasonal British ingredients and the intensity of its Thai-inspired cooking.

For Desiree Chantarasak, the appeal lies as much in the character of the wines as in the people behind them. Austria’s expressive whites, bright acidity and textural reds have proven particularly adaptable to fermented, grilled and spice-led dishes, while ongoing dialogue with growers has allowed wines to be selected — and in some cases made — with AngloThai specifically in mind.

Wine made with AngloThai in mind

That collaborative approach has extended beyond selection alone. Over the years, the restaurant has worked directly with growers on small, bespoke bottlings, including a single-varietal Grüner Veltliner shipped exclusively for the restaurant, as well as signature wines produced with Nibiru and named after John and Desiree’s children.

Throughout, biodynamics and low-intervention practices remain central, though not dogmatic. The emphasis, as with the food, is on provenance, restraint and clarity, allowing both plate and glass to speak without one overpowering the other.

What follows is a Q&A with Desiree Chantarasak, in which she explains why Austrian wine has become such a natural partner for AngloThai’s cooking, how grower relationships have shaped the list, and why tension and energy matter more than convention when it comes to pairing wine with Thai flavours.

Why Austria, specifically, as the focus for this pairing rather than more established “go-to” regions for Thai food? 

Our Austrian focus, and more specifically, our premium pairing, is a heartfelt tribute to the people who helped shape AngloThai in its formative years — the importers, growers and friends whose generosity and passion guided our early journey. 

Two wine importers that are integral to AngloThai are Modal and Newcomer Wines. When we started out, Nic (Modal) and Peter (Newcomer) both believed in John and I, and our intentions for AngloThai. Through their generosity, support and connections to Austrian wine producers this allowed us to delve into their incredible cellars. 

Ultimately, Austria remains relatively unexplored and after finding such a deep connection with both the people and the wines, it felt uniquely fitting in our AngloThai way to lean into this and celebrate the connection with a bespoke Austrian pairing.

Are there grape varieties that consistently outperform expectations with Thai dishes? 

Yes definitely – Grüner Veltliner is brilliant with Thai food. The peppery lift mirrors white pepper and lemongrass beautifully, while its acidity cuts through richer dishes like coconut cream curries. In more textural or skin-contact expressions, it gains a tannic edge that works almost like tea – brilliant with our fermented or grilled elements. 

Blaufränkisch also constantly surprises people. It has this bright acidity and dark cherry purity, while holding an earthy, sometimes smoky quality that works with grilled meats, fermented chilli pastes and dishes with shrimp paste or tamarind. Served slightly chilled, it’s incredibly versatile. Austrian field blend wines are another revelation that have built-in balance and complexity, which mirrors the layered complexity of our AngloThai dishes. 

Was there a particular dish–wine pairing that made you think, this really works? 

Our dish of Brixham Crab, Exmoor Caviar & Coconut Ash Cracker is paired with the sensational Rothgraben Grüner Veltliner from Nibiru in Kamptal. We had this single variety wine shipped exclusively to the UK for AngloThai, and we are thrilled to be the only restaurant in the country to showcase this cuvee, especially considering our strong relationship with Nibiru, who also made bespoke signatures wines for the restaurant and are named after our children Rufus and Aubretia. The Rothgraben Grüner Veltliner brings an integrity to the dish, meaning it feels as much a part of the dish as any of the food elements, rather than just being a wine poured alongside it.

How did your relationships with producers like Nibiru, Tschida and Preisinger first develop? 

These amazing friendships developed gradually thanks to Modal and Newcomer Wines, but essentially through tastings and multiple face-to-face meetings with many of the Austrian suppliers we now work with today at AngloThai. John has cooked pop-up events in Vienna and wider Austria as part of celebrations like Heuriger and at winemakers’ vineyards and cellars. Over time, these experiences have deepened our connections with growers such as Josef and Julia (Nibiru), Christian (Tschida), Claus (Preisinger) and Luka (Zeichman/Joiseph). We all share a mutual curiosity; they’re fascinated by Thai flavours, and we have a fascination with their soil compositions, farming techniques and philosophy. We all come together over a common passion for quality, integrity and delicious food and wine! 

What do these growers understand about AngloThai that makes the partnership work? 

I think a lot of the growers that we work with understand that AngloThai is such a completely unique and personal passion project that leads to a high quality and bold guest experience. They understand that we’re not looking for wines that dominate the plate and instead we have a transparent relationship and form for discussion, so all parties gain the most from the relationship in terms of learning and sharing. I think that there is a shared language around tension and energy that makes the partnership feel creative rather than transactional. 

Have any wines been made or selected specifically with AngloThai in mind? 

Yes — we bottled a 100% Chardonnay in partnership with Christoph Heiss of Malinga. He had already pulled all his Chardonnay vines from the vineyard when we first tried the wine, and this was the final barrel of Chardonnay to be made by Christoph (for now). We first tasted it on a visit in 2018 to Austria with Nic of Modal Wines, and completely fell in love — it truly blew our minds with its complex tropical, almost banana flavour notes and great balance of sweetness, offset with bracing acidity. We bought the whole barrel (120 bottles worth) pretty much on the spot and had a label designed by our dear friend Kim Hillyard, who was behind many of the early AngloThai posters and also painted the cover of John’s cookbook – Kin Thai: Modern Thai Recipes to Cook at Home. We named the wine Eleanore, after Christoph’s grandmother who was a fan of this particular Chardonnay. 

We also created our AngloThai signature wines in collaboration with Nibiru in the Kamptal region of Austria. The partnership was brought together again by Modal Wines, and over several trips to Austria we’d come to deeply admire Josef and Julia’s work, particularly Josef’s ability to craft wines of refinement and precision, with a strong sense of place. We named the wines after our children. Rufus is the red: a blend of aged Merlot and Zweigelt, lifted with a small percentage of Müller-Thurgau, which adds brightness and elevates the earthy, bramble-led

character. Aubretia is the white: a blend of Müller-Thurgau and Gelber Muskateller, always expressive, fruit-driven, and layered with a generous textural richness. 

How important is biodynamics and low-intervention winemaking to the overall ethos? 

It’s a backbone, not a rulebook. We’re drawn to producers who farm responsibly and passionately, striving to work with minimal intervention as much to their ability, in order to reflect our own cooking respects to provenance and process.

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