About us - Lo Spuntino Restaurant Ao Nang Krabi Thailand

About us

Umberto Barbieri is the award-winning executive chef of Lo Spuntino's Italian kitchen. Trained in a series of international hotels, he opened his own restaurant, Casa Carina, in the Piedmont region of Italy at the age of 23, where he won the prestigious Duja D’Or for 4 consecutive years. Umberto's areas of expertise include pasta making (all fresh pasta is made on the premises) and grilled meats. He places a high emphasis on quality ingredients, spending a lot of time sourcing treats for his customers such as fresh porcini for the risotto and wonderful antipasti.

Soony is a Thai native with a real multi-cultural background: his biological father is from USA and both grandparents on his dad’s side are from Russia; his mother is Thai with Laotian roots, and he had a Swiss stepfather. Languages have never been a big issue for Soony as he spent most of his life in Switzerland.

He is fluent in German, Italian, English, Swiss German, Thai, and he also knows a bit of French too. After school, Soony worked in the men’s fashion industry for several years, traveling and working in different office fields. Subsequently, he followed his roots back to Thailand and decided to move permanently to Krabi in 1999 to stay with his partner Jeab. They married one year later and in 2003 they opened the first Sala Bua Restaurant near the Noppharat Thara Thai boxing stadium. December 2004 was characterized by the tsunami, an event that only slightly affected the Ao Nang area, but that scared away tourists and undermined the financial basis of many establishments, including Lo Spuntino Italian Restaurant and its owner Chef Umberto.

With Soony needing a boost for his Sala Bua restaurant, and Umberto aiming at a fresh start, they decided to combine forces and teamed up to form the Sala Bua & Lo Spuntino. After a reasonably successful high season, they decided to strengthen the union and to upgrade, moving to a more walked-on and sought after location, the current one. Today Sala Bua & Lo Spuntino is a locally owned and family-operated AUTHENTIC Thai, Seafood and Italian Restaurant. It is located in Ao Nang Beach, right next to the Andaman Sea, and it is run by Soony, his wife Jeab, Umberto and his wife Tan.

Both families have been calling Ao Nang their home for nearly 10 years. Jeab’s mom is the chef in the Thai kitchen and Umberto oversees the Italian kitchen. Both cook the food the same way and achieve the same taste they would at home. Clients find authentic tastes in every single dish they serve, and that’s why more and more visitors to Ao Nang keep coming back to their restaurant. The extended family behind Sala Bua & Lo Spuntino invites you to come and enjoy their truly authentic Thai and Italian cuisine.