Baan Tepa

Bangkok

A remarkably thorough and considered approach to sustainability

To say Baan Tepa takes sustainability seriously is, if anything, an understatement. The Bangkok restaurant, helmed by chef Chudaree 'Tam' Debhakam (winner of Asia's Best Female Chef Award 2025) has moved to a regenerative model, meaning that rather than simply reducing negative impacts, the team instead designs systems that actively return value to the environment, producers and people.

This model is based on three operational loops – a waste loop, a source loop, and a people loop – each of which is supported by impressive data gathering efforts, such as meticulously tracking waste volumes.

Baan Tepa also takes an evolved approach to waste management. The restaurant has an on-site garden where some organic waste is composted, but this is seen as a last resort, rather than an easy fix to dealing with waste. All food-related outputs are weighed, recorded and separated daily into citrus, fruit, greens, eggshells, seafood shells and other by-product categories, with monthly reviews of this data helping to inform reduction and reuse strategies.

The kitchen workflow is designed so that by-products are treated not as waste, but as ingredient streams. To enable this, they created a dedicated in-house fermentation role and surplus research and development role, which is responsible for transforming kitchen by-products into usable components. For example, fruit scraps are fermented into vinegars and kombucha, herb stems are processed into oils and powders, allium trimmings are turned into seasonings, and seafood shells are used to make stocks. Furthermore, revenue generate from selling recyclable materials through Waste Buy is allocated to staff welfare initiatives, incentivising the team to take a hands-on approach to these waste-reduction schemes.

Sourcing practices are equally well considered. Only two ingredients are imported (caviar and Australian wagyu) and heritage and underutilised Thai varieties are prioritised, for example native rice species and traditional fermented ingredients.

Baan Tepa's sourcing practices also have positive impacts on its suppliers. Working with more than 70 producers across 36 of Thailand's provinces, the team pre-orders produce to create stable demand and reduce overproduction pressure for suppliers. Thanks to long-term partnerships with the restaurant, several producers have shifted from volume-based commodity selling to quality-focused supply, improving income while reducing chemical inputs. The annual Baan Tepa Farmers Market – where 24 partner producers sell directly to the public – provides producers with higher-margin direct sales, increases consumer awareness of seasonal and regional Thai ingredients, and shortens the gap between producer and end consumer.

Through monthly 'Meet the Producers' sessions, farmers, foragers and fishers are invited to the restaurant to educate the entire team on their ingredients and production methods. Beyond this, all staff members receive at least four hours of weekly training, with team members also rotating between kitchen, garden and service roles to build an understanding of the entire system.

The CEO of The Sustainable Restaurant Association, Juliane Caillouette Noble, said of the win: "Baan Tepa's dedication to responsible sourcing is highly commendable, championing small producers in tangible ways and creating a market for traditional and heritage ingredients that support both regional biodiversity and local communities.

"Our team was also very impressed by their incredible efforts to embrace circularity, designing waste out of every part of their operations and proving that fine dining does not need to be wasteful."

The Sustainable Restaurant Award is given to the restaurant in the region that achieves the highest environmental and social responsibility rating as determined by 50 Best's audit partner, the Sustainable Restaurant Association. All restaurants on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 1-100 list were invited to enter the award via self-nomination and each entry was assessed across three main pillars: sourcing, society and environment.

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