Down to Business: Leandro Panza of 2 Fishes

Some chefs arrive on Koh Samui the way most people do: for the pace, the warmth, the sense that the island will be forgiving. Leandro Panza is not that kind of chef. He visited five times in a single year before he committed to opening a restaurant here. He knew what he was looking for and he waited until he found it.

The career that preceded Samui was a serious one. Panza started cooking at sixteen in Melbourne, following his mother into the kitchen. He completed his apprenticeship at Café E'Cucina, a two-hat kitchen, and then went to London: Zafferano in Knightsbridge, one of the most decorated Italian restaurants in Europe at the time. He worked there as junior sous chef and sous chef across three years that bracketed the restaurant's Michelin star, arriving the year before it came and staying two years after. Back in Australia he opened three restaurants: The Trust, Paragon, and Sargra.

In 2016 he set up 2 Fishes in Fisherman's Village. He has since moved it to its current beachfront site in Bophut, where it has been running for close to a decade. He runs the kitchen. He runs the floor. He goes to the fish market himself every morning. The restaurant draws expats, island residents, visitors from Bangkok, and guests from the five-star properties along the north coast. It is one of the most consistently returned-to Italian kitchens on Samui. Panza has not moved on.

The Business Story

What brought you to Koh Samui?

By the time Panza first came to Samui, he had already built and sold restaurants on two continents. He was ready to open something entirely his own, somewhere new. A friend already on the island gave him the first reason to look.

"I came to visit my friend at Squires Loft and spoke to him and thought it was time to setup something for myself. I came five times in that year until I found the location."

Five visits before signing anything. For a chef who had learned through decades in professional kitchens that the wrong room is the one problem you cannot cook your way out of, the patience makes complete sense.

What does your typical working day look like?

The structure of Panza's day is set by the market, not the menu. The fish he serves each evening is chosen by him personally, at the source, every morning. It is not a romantic gesture. It is how the kitchen maintains its standard.

"10:30 a.m. at the fish market, a bite to eat, off to Makro, come up with some specials, then 2 p.m. come in and brief the staff on specials and train them up. Then service starts at 5 p.m. until 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. Also getting on the phone with suppliers from Bangkok preparing ahead."

The specials briefing at 2 p.m. is the second act. Service is the third. The day starts at the fish market and ends at the pass, and the gap between them is spent in preparation. There is no coasting built into it.

What is the hardest lesson you have learned running a business on the island?

Three decades of professional cooking and nearly ten years running his own operation on Koh Samui have given Panza a precise view of what matters and what does not. The lesson he arrives at is short.

"Don't skimp on quality and stick to what you are good at. Keep it simple and keep it fresh and keep the quality."

From a chef who trained at Michelin-star level and still buys his own fish every morning, this is not a talking point. Samui is full of restaurants that coast on location and tourist footfall. 2 Fishes has lasted by refusing to.

Leandro's Samui

A working chef's guide to any island will run in a different direction from a travel supplement. The places Panza returns to are not the most-photographed or the most-talked-about. They are the places that meet his standard.

The Origin Story Spot

Ask a chef with Panza's training to name the first meal that impressed him on the island and the answer reveals a great deal about what he looks for. It was not the most prominent restaurant on Samui or the most talked-about table. It was a kitchen led by a Thai chef who understood her produce and trusted her flavours.

"It was amazing and the produce and the Thai flavours were on point under Chef Supattra."

The produce first, then the technique. The same order of priority that drives his own kitchen every morning at the fish market.

The Everyday Ritual

A chef who spends his evenings feeding other people tends to have a very practical relationship with lunch. Panza rotates between a handful of local spots: Pho Viet, Pae Chuan Chim, and Fredericos. The reasoning is exactly what you would expect from someone who has been cooking professionally since he was sixteen.

"These are our local go-to lunchtime venues which are very consistent and good quality."

Consistency and quality. Not atmosphere, not novelty. The same two criteria he applies at the fish market every morning.

The Escapist Beach

When Panza needs a day away from the kitchen, he goes to a beach club that passes the same test he runs on everything else. Chi Beach Club on Bangrak is the answer.

"High quality beach club, well laid out with friendly staff."

Three criteria, three words each. From someone who thinks about quality professionally every day of the week, the economy of that endorsement is its own form of confidence.

The Celebration Dinner

An Italian-trained chef who marks a milestone with a barbecue at a friend's villa is, on one reading, an unexpected answer. On another, it is the most honest one in this feature. Panza has spent his adult life cooking for strangers in professional kitchens. When there is something worth celebrating, the meal he wants is private, informal, and entirely off the clock.

"As an Aussie, I appreciate a good BBQ at a friend's villa or mine."

The private meal as luxury. It makes complete sense for a person who has been at a pass until 10:30 p.m. for most of the last decade.

The Out-of-Towner Flex

When friends fly in from elsewhere and Panza wants to show them what the island can do, he takes them somewhere that makes Samui feel exactly like what it is. His choice is Cielo, the beachfront Mediterranean venue on Bangrak. The logic is quietly interesting coming from a man who runs a Mediterranean kitchen himself.

"A beachy Mediterranean feel that helps them feel they are on a tropical island."

He is not taking them to his own restaurant. He is taking them to the place that most reliably delivers the feeling of being somewhere warm, well-fed, and far from home.

The Wellness Reset

A chef who has been standing in kitchens since the age of sixteen has a body that keeps a very accurate record of it. After nearly three decades of professional service and a decade of running his own operation on a tropical island, Panza's approach to recovery is specific.

"For wellness and stem cells and anti-inflammation treatment."

Anti-inflammation is not a lifestyle choice for a working chef; it is maintenance. Aveya is where Panza services the machinery.

The Late-Night Pour

After service ends, the kitchen is squared away, and the last table has cleared, Panza goes to Bar Bohem. At that point in the day, the criteria are simple: the right room, the right glass.

"Great cocktails and ambience."

A man who has spent twelve hours making things precisely right for other people does not need anything complicated at midnight. Bar Bohem delivers what it promises and Panza goes back.

Down to Business is a recurring series on samuibeachclub.com profiling the entrepreneurs, chefs, and operators who make Koh Samui work. If you run a business on the island and would like to be featured, get in touch at hello@samuibeachclub.com.