Dave Pynt last cooked at the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok seven years ago, long enough for the city’s dining scene to evolve in ways only a returning visitor fully appreciates. What strikes him now is not just the sheer number of high-end kitchens in the capital, but their newfound self assurance.
Sitting down between services on the first day of his hotel takeover, the Australian chef owner of Singapore’s Burnt Ends reaches for the word pride to describe the shift in Thai gastronomy. He hesitates, then keeps it. What he ultimately settles on is precise: an acceleration in technical command, supply chain maturity, and kitchen discipline.
Coming from a chef who spent his formative years controlling wood fire by degrees, praising technique over mere flavour profile is high praise. It signifies a scene that has moved past novelty and into deep mastery.
Technique Over Spectacle
Any restaurant takeover demands the crowd pleasers, and Pynt complies. But he also uses the platform to test newer, technically aggressive dishes.
- The Crab, Corn & Uni Bite: Developed with head chef Luke, this precise opener distills the restaurant’s knack for high impact, bite sized complexity.
- The Rare Beef Galbi: A dish that infrequently surfaces on the Dempsey Hill menu, brought out specifically for the Bangkok showcase.
- Smoked Caviar: Served outside Singapore for the first time. The dish is so temperature sensitive that Pynt restricts it to Burnt Ends private dining room. The roe must be smoked while kept strictly chilled; a second too long near the heat ruins the batch.
“It looks easy, and it is easy, but you have to know how to do it,” Pynt notes. That sentence epitomizes his philosophy: the simplicity on the plate is the hard won final result, not the starting point.
Growth by Refusal
Since opening in a Chinatown shophouse in 2013 and relocating to Dempsey Hill in 2022, Pynt’s portfolio has expanded to include a bakery, a cocktail bar, Meatsmith, overseas ventures like The Ledge in the Maldives and Bali, and a massive brewery in Sentosa.
Yet he rejects the title of operator chasing an empire. Every expansion cleared three simple parameters: it sounded fun, involved great partners, and stayed within his culinary wheelhouse. The bakery grew organically out of baking their own bread during pandemic lockdowns; the resort concepts simply offered the ideal backdrop for open fire cooking.
It’s a lot of saying no, and not being in a rush to take over the world. ~ Dave Pynt.
While the industry often measures ambition by venue count, Pynt’s expansion relies on refusal. He isn’t scouting Bangkok for real estate or hunting for partners. He waits for the right alignment, content to let the core engine run smoothly until then.
Fire, Cold, and Time
At first glance, People People Brewing Co., a 9,000 square foot working brewery at Resorts World Sentosa, looks like a pivot away from the hearth. Pynt sees no division.
Barbecue and beer are natural companions, but more importantly, the process is identical. It begins with sourcing exceptional raw ingredients, followed by relentless control over temperature, timing, and sequence. Whether managing the airflow in a four tonne oven or serving unpasteurized craft beer straight from a conditioning tank, the discipline remains unchanged.
His current passion project involves a Czech style lager developed with head brewer Nick Calder Scholes. While standard commercial lagers age for 30 to 90 days, Pynt is testing the same brew at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 days. It is an expensive, product driven experiment rather than a shrewd financial calculation because storing beer for six months consumes precious tank space. But for a chef whose career is defined by time and temperature, cold aging beer for half a year is simply the ultimate slow cook.
The Fire Within
Through every project, whether cold aging lagers or setting up beachside grills across Asia, the anchor never moves. Burnt Ends remains his core identity, his heart and soul, and the place where he sits as a chef. The expansion around it has not diluted what he started with; it has simply given the flame more places to glow.
Fire is a living thing, unpredictable and constantly changing, and thirteen years into building his kingdom, Pynt is much the same. Even as he manages new venues and focuses on the brewery, the hearth is never truly out. It sits banked in the background, holding its heat, while he keeps learning, listening, and quietly figuring out what to build next.
Interview conducted at Waldorf Astoria Bangkok, September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Dave Pynt?
Dave Pynt is an Australian chef born in Perth, Western Australia, and the chef-owner of Burnt Ends, a one-Michelin-starred modern barbecue restaurant at Dempsey Hill in Singapore. He is the founder of Burnt Ends Hospitality Group, which also operates Meatsmith, Burnt Ends Bakery, Burnt Ends Cocktail Bar, The Ledge by Dave Pynt in the Maldives, and People People Brewing Co.
Is Burnt Ends a fine-dining restaurant?
No. Despite holding a Michelin star since 2018, Dave Pynt describes the Burnt Ends menu as izakaya-like rather than fine dining.
What did Burnt Ends serve at the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok takeover?
The September 2026 takeover menu included Burnt Ends classics alongside newer dishes, among them a crab, corn and uni bite, a rarely served beef galbi, and smoked caviar, served outside Singapore for the first time.
Why is Burnt Ends’ smoked caviar so rare?
The caviar must be kept extremely cold and shielded from heat throughout the smoking process, and the timing has to be exact. Because of that, Burnt Ends serves it only in its private dining room in Singapore rather than in the main restaurant.
What is People People Brewing Co.?
People People Brewing Co. is a 9,000 sq ft working brewery and social venue at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore, opened by Burnt Ends Hospitality Group. Beer is brewed on site and poured unpasteurised straight from the tanks, alongside wood-fired food.
Will Dave Pynt open a restaurant in Bangkok?
There are no confirmed plans. Pynt says the group receives frequent offers and that he would like to open in Bangkok, but is waiting for the right timing, partners and project.