BANGKOK -- It's a Thai Cinderella story, seasoned with lemongrass, coriander and curry. The culinary world boiled over in February when Asia's 50 Best Restaurants announced that its Icon Award, which typically honors titans of high-end fine dining, was instead going to Bangkok's street food queen, Supinya Junsuta, universally known as Jay Fai.
It is hard to overstate the contrast between previous winners such as Japanese chef Seiji Yamamoto, clad in stately whites at the three-Michelin-starred Nihonryori RyuGin in Tokyo, and 76-year-old Jay Fai, whose trademark ski goggles provide protection from sparks in her tiny Raan Jay Fai restaurant in the central district of Phra Nakhon.
