So we talked cultures and funky drinks with Pae Ketumarn of F*nkytown

From Pallet Town to Phrom Phong, this group beverage manager’s new opening is certainly one of the funkiest in town. Here, we talked to Pae Ketumarn of F*nkytown.

When you see the name F*nkytown for the first time, a lot of questions pop up: “Is “Funkytown” already taken or is it just not funky enough?”, “Is it a reference to the 1980 funk hit by Lips Inc.?”, and “Do people even know who Lips Inc. is?”

As you walk through the curtains atop the stairs and sit down at the bar for the first time, all of it seems to click. The groovy, retro-chic interior, the inventive cocktail menu, the fusion food items from the open kitchen — every aspect of the place screams nothing short of “f*nky”.

The mind behind the drinks is Pae Ketumarn, previously of The SG Club, No. 14 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2023, and the Sober Company, No. 11 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2022. Now, he’s working as group beverage manager for the Sarnies brand, as well as helming the newly-opened F*nkytown located on the fourth floor of Sarnies Sukhumvit.

So, we walked up four flights of stairs, asked for some water, and proceeded to ask how he keeps the funk alive.

So we talked cultures and funky drinks with Pae Ketumarn of F*nkytown

Why is the bar named F*nkytown?

When we first started, we asked ourselves how can we set our bar apart, and the raw idea was to utilise a 60s-80s theme. The word ‘funky’ has many meanings, and it isn’t necessarily confined within those specific eras. The furniture, the food, the drinks, the lights — all of those things can be described as funky, so that’s how we chose to approach the theme.

With lots of room to play around, we were able to create a drinks menu, many of the items inspired by the kitchen. The ambience and interior are also set to highlight the funkiness of what we serve.

What’s the creation process of the funkiest cocktail in your menu?

F*nkytown’s cocktail menu is indicated with a “level of funkiness” from one to five. The ‘Som Tam’ sits proudly at the highest level five, being the funkiest drink you can get.

I didn’t anticipate the Som Tam to be this funky at first, but it’s the idea people have of som tam; already associating the name with the savoury dish. There’s no fermented fish added to the drink, but people have an already-existing expectation of sweet, sour, and salty. So, we had to ask ourselves how to properly deconstruct these flavour profiles.

The concept of the drink is basically me sitting down eating som tam since I was a child. When the som tam runs out, we would dip the sticky rice into the remaining som tam water. That’s how we got our inspiration, turning the dish into a cocktail that’s not too savoury and not too complex to get. We tried to mimic the taste as best as we could without confining ourselves to use the actual ingredients, so you’ll see us using pomelo instead of papaya, since the pomelo has a similar acidity to papaya, but with more water we can extract.

Plus, we need to consider how we’re going to balance the drink when it’s not a dish anymore. That’s why we use fish sauce spray for the scent, and some chili tincture instead of incorporating the amount of chili you’d normally taste in a som tam.

What is your favourite classic cocktail?

Oh that’s hard. Depends on which phase I am in my career. When I first started as a bartender, I loved myself a good Gimlet or Daiquiri, but now my favourites are the Hanky Panky and the Aviation.

I’ve always loved gin, and I know that not everyone likes the taste of maraschino. I told myself that if I could make it work for myself, I could make it work for others, and that’s how I came to enjoy Aviation.

When I was in Shanghai, I sat down with my former boss Kazu-san (Kazuhisa Arai) for my first day at work at his bar. He asked me what I wanted to drink for my last glass, and I replied ‘Hanky Panky’. I wanted to try his classics. He then busted out his shaker, and I’ve never seen anyone shaking a Hanky Panky before. Kazu-san said that it was his technique: a shaken Hanky Panky with an ice ball. It turned out to be the best Hanky Panky I’ve ever tasted.

You have worked in Tokyo and Shanghai. Were there any culture shocks?

When I was in China, the first culture shock was the level of interest the patrons of the bar have in what they’re consuming. They came in and already tried all the signatures, the classics, so they wanted something special this time around. One time, a guest asked for pen and paper instead of the menu. They handed the paper back, and the words on the paper read: Autumn, Gryffindor, Courage. That was the order, to use those words and make a cocktail. It was really interesting, and I was certainly up for the challenge.

Then I travelled to Japan, and the first thing that surprised me was the level of meticulousness and care that they put into balancing a cocktail. The ingredients, the ratio, the techniques — each component is well within the interests of every bartender standing behind the bar, especially when it comes to classic cocktails. After all, you already have a set recipe of the signatures, but it’s the classics where each bartender got to experiment with the ingredients while retaining what the classic is about.

You didn’t start out as a bartender, as you first interned within the food industry. What made you become interested in bartending?

I started out my studies in Le Cordon Bleu in Australia with a dream to open my own burger joint. There’s a burger place in Melbourne called Huxtaburger, and I went there every other week because I loved it so much. When I came back to Thailand, it made sense to pursue a career in the kitchen. I would walk into hotels that I thought would be accepting applicants and asked if they have available positions. I didn’t get any response from any hotel, until a hotel referred me to another hotel, saying it would be a better fit for me. That’s how I started at the W Bangkok.

They didn’t have any position open in the kitchen, so they asked if I would be interested working in their bar. I didn’t have any bar experience, but I didn’t have a job anyway, and I see it as another area within F&B that I haven’t tried yet. I started out as service, but I soon started to get curious about what goes into the drinks that I’m serving. After bothering the people at the bar to the point that they taught me, it made me realise that drinks are not all that different than food. It’s something interesting I could get into, so I asked my boss if I could be trained to be a bartender, and the rest is history.

If not at your own bar, what bars in Bangkok are your favourite?

Hands down, Ku Bar. They’ve been open for several years, and I can say that their menu to this day, none has ever failed to impress me. The flavour combinations and the balance are always on point. I always get the chance to feel the ambience and talk to the bartenders, and it’s always a good time.

If not at Ku Bar, I like Alonetogether. I love jazz, and the vibes are amazing. If I could choose to be anywhere after a long day of work, it’s there. Sit at the bar and order a classic.

What advice would you give people starting out in the bar industry?

Be an open book, always think of yourself as a glass half empty, if not completely empty. No matter which industry you’re working in, knowledge is boundless. There will always be more things to discover.

Being a bartender is not just one thing. It’s not just about creating the best drinks, have the best shakes, or the greatest ideas. Being a bartender is being a person of hospitality. For me, if your cocktails are amazing but you can’t take care of your customers, that simply isn’t enough.

F*nkytown is located on the fourth floor of Sarnies Sukhumvit, 39 Sukhumvit 37 Alley, Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok, open daily from 5pm-midnight.

[Hero and featured image credit: Pae Ketumarn]