Paste's chef Bongkoch ”Bee” Satongun has been named Asia's Best Female Chef 2018 as part of the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards. 

Today's announcement tops off a bumper few months for chef Bee, aged 41, whose Bangkok Thai fine-dining restaurant with chef-husband Jason Bailey was last year awarded its first Michelin star.

Since opening the original branch of Paste in Thonglor in 2013, chef Bee has garnered much attention for her dedication to meticulously sourcing the best local produce and preserving the authentic Thai flavors she grew up with.

The menu at Paste, now at the Gaysorn Plaza luxury mall, is based on historical research and old family recipes dating from 1870-1930. In awarding chef Bee, Asia's 50 Best wrote:

"With a philosophy of keeping 80 per cent of the traditional dish and innovating 20 per cent, Satongun investigates and reinvents traditional Thai recipes at risk of extinction as new generations lose touch with techniques and methods recorded in old cookbooks." 

Chef Bee's award continues Bangkok's strong showing in the Best Female Chef category. Bo.lan's Bo Songvisava took out top honors in 2013, while May Chow of Hong Kong's Little Bao, which at the time had a branch in Bangkok, claimed the top spot in 2017.

After two years in Bangkok, the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2018 awards ceremony will take place in Macau on Mar 27.