How delegating fueled NYC’s top Thai restaurant group

Left to right: Photo of Bangkok Supper Club’s Pork Jowl from Evan Sung and photo of Fish Cheeks’ Branzino from Andrea D’Agosto

In the restaurant world, success often means making a name for yourself. But the award-winning team behind two of New York City’s most celebrated Thai restaurants has some surprising advice for restaurateurs: Hire people who will outshine you.

Photo of Jenn Saesue and Chat Suansilphong from Andrea D’Agosto

55 Hospitality founders Jenn Saesue and Chat Suansilphong put Thai seafood on the map with Fish Cheeks. Their next project, Bangkok Supper Club, let new talent lead the way.

“We hire someone doing things better than us,” Chat Suansilphong said. “We hired a manager that managed better than us. We hired a chef that cooks better than us. We hire people who do marketing and PR better than us. That’s why we are expanding, growing.”

Letting go wasn’t easy, especially since Fish Cheeks was such a personal project. But empowering the next generation of chefs and launching new concepts meant growing and trusting new talent. “I can [try to] do everything, but is it 100% in one area? It’s not,” Jenn said. “[I’d] rather put people in place who can excel in that one area.”

Under the restaurant group 55 Hospitality, Jenn and Chat look for partners who are willing to take risks and bring their own vision to the table. Explore how their partnerships and concepts have evolved over the years.

2016: Fish Cheeks

What is it? Contemporary Thai seafood with two New York City locations

Photo of Chef Dustin Everett from Mickey Ponpayong

Partner: Chef Dustin Everett

Opportunity: Proud Thai immigrants, Jenn and Chat wanted to celebrate one of their favorite elements of Thai cuisine: seafood. Southern Thailand’s peninsula has a rich tradition of fish and shellfish dishes, but this wasn’t reflected on American menus at the time.

“Ten years ago, it was a lot of Thai restaurants with the same kind of menu: the noodles, the fried rice, the curry, and not so much about seafood,” Jenn said. “So we were like, ‘Okay. That’s a huge void right there that we can definitely fill.’”

Challenges: Fish Cheeks quickly earned a following for its “stupendously good Thai food,” even bringing in Chrissy Teigen and John Legend in its second month of business. Still, Chat and Jenn approached expansion cautiously, worried about losing control over what they’d built.

“It took a while for us [to go]… from restaurant number one to restaurant number two because we were like: ‘No, no one can do it. No one can do it better than I can,’” Jenn recalls. “Once [we brought on Chef Dustin], we were like, ‘We need to shift our perspective a little bit.’ It’s better to have other people doing the job that is meant for them to do.”

Lessons learned: The perfect partners may not match your expectations. Unlike other key members of 55 Hospitality, Chef Dustin isn’t Southeast Asian and didn’t have experience with Thai cooking. But he clicked well with the team, promising: “I’m open to learning. I’m very quick at picking up things,” Jenn recalls.

The duo invested in Chef Dustin, sending him to Thailand to study traditional cooking methods. Meanwhile, he contributed valuable skills that helped the business grow, such as time management and running a kitchen at scale. “He really surprised us in that way. And at the same time we continued to educate him with Thai food,” Jenn said.

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2023: Bangkok Supper Club

What is it? An upscale restaurant celebrating the late night cuisine of Bangkok in New York City

Photo of Max Wittawat from Kelsey Cherry

Partner: Chef Max Wittawat

Opportunity: With their second concept, Chat and Jenn were ready to let another chef’s vision shine. Bangkok Supper Club began with Chef Max, whose career Jenn had followed for a decade since meeting him at Fish Cheeks. “I was like: Wait a minute. This kid is so amazing,’” she said. “He was ‘Iron Chef’ Thailand’s right-hand man. He bops around, but he also consults for really amazing restaurants.”

After Jenn reached out, it took a month for Chef Max to sign on. They then started melding their visions for an upscale, Thai restaurant that served comfort food (Chef Max’s specialty). “There’s [only] so much one person can do in terms of coming up with a new concept,” Chat said. “Once we tap into this talent, [they’ve also been] thinking about that concept for the past 10 years.”

Challenges: At the time, Chat and Jenn were about to sign a lease to bring Fish Cheeks to Los Angeles. They knew they couldn’t handle both projects at once—a new location and a new concept—so they had to make a choice.

Chat remembers Jenn asking: “If we want [a] Michelin Star—we’ve been dreaming about that since we first opened Fish Cheeks, and this is the chance—do you want to do it?”

“We made a lot of people mad,” Chat said. But the risk paid off: Although the restaurant hasn’t secured a Michelin star just yet, it’s featured in New York’s Michelin guide, and its bartender Suwincha “Chacha” Singsuwan won Michelin’s Exceptional Cocktails Award in 2024.

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Lessons learned: Bangkok Supper Club opened a whole new chapter of entrepreneurship for the duo, leaning into their roles as business owners rather than chefs: “We can run the business. We can make sure that it survives, and we can make sure that it’s set up properly, but… we’re not the talent. We don’t have to be the talent,” Jenn said.

2025: Bub’s Bakery

What is it? A bakery free from the top nine allergens, including gluten, dairy, soy, nuts, and all animal products

Photo of Melissa Weller from 55 Hospitality

Partner: James Beard-nominated baker Melissa Weller

Opportunity: Bub’s Bakery was a personal concept in a different way for 55 Hospitality. Jenn’s husband, Bub, has many allergies, making baked goods nearly impossible to enjoy. “It’s either vegan or it’s gluten free or it’s dairy free or it’s nut free. It’s only one thing or maybe two things. It’s never all of the things across the board,” Jenn said.

With food allergies on the rise among children (now averaging two kids per U.S. classroom), Jenn suggested reaching a new audience with help from baker Melissa Weller.

Challenges: When Jenn and Chat first approached traditional bakers with the idea, they said it was impossible. “They didn’t wanna touch it,” Jenn recalls. But Melissa’s background as a chemical engineer helped her solve the puzzle, wrangling the proportions and proofing into submission. “I think all our partners have something in common: They love a challenge,” Chat said.

The team tested recipes every week for two years before launching. For Melissa, taste and quality were non-negotiable, even in allergy-friendly products.

Photo of Devil’s Food Cupcakes from Bub’s Bakery by Ben Hon

Lessons learned: Always focus on your audience. For Bangkok Supper Club, it’s Michelin diners; at Bub’s, it’s school kids who want to share treats with friends. That’s why Bub’s first event was a pop-up at Public School 20 in Brooklyn.

At the event, Jenn and Chat handed out cupcakes to every child, but the kids kept coming back for more—sometimes claiming that they dropped the first one. “I see frosting on your lip. Did you drop it in your belly?” Chat remembers asking. With the elementary school’s stamp of approval, they knew they were on the right track.

These lessons come from an episode of Behind the Review, Yelp & Entrepreneur Media’s weekly podcast. Listen below to hear more from Jenn and Chat, or visit the show homepage to learn about the show and find more episodes.