How do our food experts cook and eat? This week, we feature Amari Colombo’s Thai speciality chef– Chef Pear ahead of the hotel’s grand opening.

Chef Kornkanok Kutranon, fondly known as Chef Pear, serves as the Thai Specialty Chef at Amari Colombo’s all-day dining restaurant, Ahāra. Ahāra artfully combines the rich flavours of regional Thai, Sri Lankan, and Japanese cuisines with Western and Indian favourites, creating an elevated dining experience. Guests can enjoy daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffets, weekend brunch, a delectable à la carte menu, and Chef Pear’s signature creations. Additionally, Ahāra offers the convenience of 24-hour dining for a seamless experience at any time.

Chef Pear brings over four years of expertise in crafting signature dishes for premium dining establishments in Thailand and Nepal. Renowned for her mastery of Thai cuisine, she elevates every creation with the authentic flavours of Thailand, using the freshest seafood sourced from trusted local partners.

Your top 5 must-try dishes at Ahāra?

• Garlic Prawns  – we use giant local river prawns and stir them in a hot wok with fire to give them a smoky, salty and sweet flavour with lots of garlic.
• Fish Red Curry –  our red curry is made with our own in-house red curry paste that has all the flavour and heat without being overwhelming. We use local modha fish for the curry because the natural sweetness from the fish works perfectly well with the curry flavours.
• Grilled tiger prawns with pomelo salad – I accidentally stumbled across pomelo on my run to the local market here and I immediately knew I wanted to feature it in a dish. We use local tiger prawns brought in fresh from the market and grilled to get a smoky, charred flavour and texture and then use the pomelo salad to contrast with a refreshing, sour and sweet burst.
• Tom Yum Goong – everyone loves this classic spicy soup with Thai herbs and Thai chilli paste. It’s a comfort food for most Thai people because it’s a great dish for any time of the day. It ticks the box for all four of the famous Thai spices – salty, sour, sweet and spicy all at once.
• Stir Fry Fish with Black Pepper Sauce – fried fish with our signature black pepper sauce made with Chinese wine and sesame oil. It’s a well-seasoned dish that I think Sri Lankans will really enjoy.

“Chef Pear’s Favourite” platter – what three items would absolutely have to be in it?
Steamed – Curry – Salad is what we want. So, Chef Pear’s platter would have a Steamed Modha in a Spicy Lemongrass Soup, Red Curry and Grilled Tiger Prawn Pomelo Salad. This is what Thai food is all about. When these come together, people share, mix and match as they eat and that’s the job of Thai food.

“Turning moments into memories” is your motto – is there a dish you’ve created that has a particularly special memory attached to it?
My mom used to make something called a “Spicy Salad”. You just take whatever you have in the fridge and make a sauce with garlic, bird’s eye chilli, lemongrass, fish sauce and lime juice. It’s this dressing that does all the work and its fool proof!

What’s in store for diners at Amari Colombo?
I’m beyond excited to bring a taste of Thailand to Sri Lanka, where the kitchen feels like my very own home. At Amari, every dish is crafted with love and care, ensuring that every guest who dines with us feels as if they’re enjoying a warm, home-cooked meal. It’s not just about food – it’s about creating memories, where every bite tells a story and every meal brings comfort, just like sharing a meal at home.

What got you into cooking?
My parents used to work a lot so they had little time to cook for me. So, after school, I would come home and try to find something to cook from what’s left in the fridge and the first dish I ever made was a spicy prawn and lemongrass salad which my mom taught me how to make.  That dish inspired me to test out new dishes and make recipes of my own. I would cook for my friends when they came home. Everyone told me I should be a chef–so I went to culinary school and learnt everything about becoming a chef!

What can we find at Ahāra, Amari Colombo’s all-day dining restaurant?

Ahāra offers breakfast, lunch, dinner, weekend brunch and 24-hour dining with buffet and a la carte options. Given my experience in Thai and Japanese cuisine, the restaurant is a balanced mix of regional Sri Lankan cuisine as well as regional Thai cuisine and
Japanese cuisine.

What does it mean to cook Thai food to the Thai taste?
Cook like how Thai people cook, of course!– fiery and spicy and full of flavour!

You’ve had the unique experience of cooking in both Thailand and Nepal, what inspired you to bring your skills to Sri Lanka to Amari Colombo?
I was fortunate enough to be recommended by my mentor, Chef Boy, a Michelin-starred chef renowned for his expertise in Thai cuisine. He has been consulting for the Amari brand, guiding them on their Thai culinary offerings. When the opportunity arose to join the team at Amari Colombo as the Thai Specialty Chef, it felt like a perfect fit. I’m excited to bring my passion for food to the table and lead the creation of the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, where I’ll have the chance to showcase authentic flavours and elevate the culinary experience for our guests.

What was the process of setting up Ahāra?
It’s been great! I believe that the restaurant is the heart of the hotel so it’s important that you have a good strategy when setting up. My strategy is to use local ingredients to make authentic Thai food. Training the staff is the most important aspect of this process because authentic Thai food is new to them and it’s important for them to learn how to balance the flavours – how to cook Thai food to the Thai taste.

What’s the one dish that’s unique to the all-day dining restaurant at Amari Colombo?
I’m very confident about our Grilled Tiger Prawns with the Pomelo Salad. It’s a seasonal dish we can only serve when it's pomelo season and the flavours are truly something you have to experience for yourself.

Dining at Ahara would feel like _____?
Dining in Thailand while in Sri Lanka.

When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
I always knew! When I went to culinary school, I learnt to cook Thai, and Western cuisine and patisseries and baked goods and I really enjoyed it. When you cook for a customer, there’s a lot of expectation on the food because they pay valuable money for their meal so you have a responsibility to ensure you cook by heart and make it worth their money.

What’s your exposure to Sri Lankan food?
I tried Sri Lankan food for the first time here, at Amari Colombo. The staff made lunch for me–rice, with chicken curry and stir-fried vegetables. The dishes tasted a lot like our sweet and sour dishes, and I knew immediately that there were similarities between our cuisines that I could work with.