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Published on February 27, 2008

For many years, Sahas Juntakarnond was an interi?or designer, but the work did not satisfy him. He could not set aside something he first experienced as a 15-year-old Boy Scout and which had fascinated him ever since: cooking.

So he took his knowledge of interior design and love for cooking and combined them to create the ABC Cooking Studio, and for nearly four years Sahas has been a cookery teacher.

Sahas, 35, graduated from Silpakorn University's Faculty of Interior Decoration and worked as a freelance interior designer before deciding he had cho?sen the wrong career.

"The first time I cooked was when I was 15 years old. I went to Boy Scout camp and learned how to prepare food, and I enjoyed it very much. I came to love cook?ing because I love drinking, and I have an appetite for food along with alcoholic beverages," he says.

Sahas and a group of friends opened two restau?rants, but both failed - main?ly because they didn't know how to run a business.

Nearly four years ago, Sahas decided to have anoth?er try at the cooking busi?ness. But this time he creat?ed the ABC Cooking Studio in the heart of Bangkok, in Siam Square Soi 1. Setting it up cost him Bt16 million.

He was inspired by a cooking academy in Japan that taught only female stu?dent or working women before they went home at night.

"There were many mid?dle- to upper-income peo?ple willing to pay to learn hobbies like music or sports, but not many were learning to cook. I believed some of them wanted to learn cook?ing, so I decided to open the ABC Cooking Studio," he says.

The school teaches inter?national cuisines, including Italian, Japanese and Chinese, as well as Thai cooking and baking. A course costs Bt3,900, and the students choose to learn two menus.

Sahas admits the fee is higher than at other acade?mies but says this is due to high costs, particularly for ingredients and building rental.

One unique aspect of ABC Cooking Studio is that students can choose their own time for learning. At the beginning, the studio's target group was students who wanted to learn something on their way home. However, many working and retired people also registered, lead?ing to the studio's flexible approach to hours of tuition.

The ABC Cooking Studio has also developed cuisine formulas for corporate clients, and many well-known food brands feature menus in which the studio has played a creative role. But Sahas will not reveal their names.

"I don't want to take cred?it away from those brands," he says.

The ABC Cooking Studio, in conjunction with such partners as Gourmet & Cuisine magazine, has also organised cooking events for corporate clients like Thai Life Assurance, which regu?larly provides cooking activ?ities for its customers.

The cooking studio also produces its own television show on Channel 11 each Monday. Previously, it pro?duced a television show called "Eating, Cooking and Living" on Channel 5, but it ended last year.

Sahas says the ABC Cooking Studio's core busi?ness is teaching cooking, although this does not gen?erate much profit compared with the studio's other activ?ities. Nevertheless, he enjoys teaching people to cook.

"I want my students to be happy when they cook. I don't teach them to be chefs, but rather to receive happi?ness from cooking. Leonardo da Vinci once said cooking was the only activity in which you had to use all five sens?es. Cooking is an art," he says.

At present, the ABC Cooking Studio has four teachers and an average of 1,000 students per month.

"Even though I'm a man, I love cooking, and cooking is not complicated. I learned it from my mother and by reading books on my own. I'm not a graduate of any cooking academy," Sahas says.

This year, he is spending Bt1 million to open another Italian restaurant. The ABC Cooking Studio is being ren?ovated, and the first and sec?ond floors will become the restaurant, while the third floor will be set up as the cooking studio.

The new restaurant, to be called Together We Eat, is expected to be ready for opening next month.

"I decided to open a restaurant again because friends kept asking: 'If you're successful in cooking school, why don't you open your own restaurant?'"

Sahas is also looking for an opportunity to produce another television cooking programme. He says he does not have any interior-design jobs at the moment, but if they come along, he's willing to take them on.

"As I said: cooking is an art. I apply my interior-design knowledge to each menu. I'm happy with this career, and I'll continue with it as long as I can," Sahas says.

Nalin Viboonchart

The Nation