DINE & WINE

A special journey to Bangkok

Nine of the world's most celebrated chefs are gathering for a unique gastronomic summit and their destination is Bangkok

BRIAN KENT

The chefs are world famous and gourmet travellers converge on their restaurants for culinary experiences of the highest order. The Michelin Guide has awarded them its highest accolade, three stars.

Michelin Guide inspectors are exacting, demanding the best of a restaurant in all its aspects: food, service, decor and attention to detail. The Guide offers this summary for the qualities necessary for a three-star restaurant: "Excellent cooking worth making a special journey for."

Many visitors will be making a special journey to Bangkok to discover the wonders of their cuisine in surroundings of commensurate quality at the Epicurean Masters of the World II. And it will be a special journey for the chefs themselves, too, as they will be meeting their peers, old friends and former colleagues while enjoying their stay in Thailand.

Word quickly got round after the first Epicurean Masters of the World in November 2005 that here was an environment that they would enjoy, and where they would receive respect and appreciation. That first, groundbreaking event was the brainchild of Rattawadee Bualert, president of lebua Hotels & Resorts Co, and Deepak Ohri, managing director of lebua Hotels & Resorts Co and general manager of lebua Hotel at State Tower.

Managed by lebua Hotels & Resorts, The Dome complex is the setting for three of Bangkok's finest, and most expensive, restaurants - Sirocco Mediterranean restaurant with its breathtaking Sky Bar on the 63rd floor, the Italian fine dining restaurant Mezzaluna on the 65th floor, and the fashionable meeting place Distil whisky and oyster bar on the 64th floor.

The fame of The Dome has spread around the world since it opened in late 2003, and all three restaurants - Sirocco, Distil and Mezzaluna - were splashed in Conde Nast Traveler's Hot List 2005 May issue, as well as other high-end international travel publications.

The company's lebua Hotel occupies 10 floors of the State Tower and is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World. The hotel's recently opened 60-million-baht open-air restaurant Breeze provides another spectacular backdrop under the stars for the second Epicurean Masters.

"This time we have concentrated on chef-restaurateurs with three Michelin stars, the highest award in the culinary world," says Deepak Ohri. "The first Epicurean Masters was inspired by the dream that Bangkok would become a preferred destination for diners who are used to the best of everything. We wanted to convince them that they would find it here. With the response we are receiving to Epicurean Masters II, I think we made that point.

"We are asking a lot from the chefs: they all have restaurants with a worldwide reputation and their customers expect to see them there. But they know about Thailand and its hospitality, and they know, too, that they will find a kitchen and restaurant environment that will give them everything they will need."

The Epicurean Masters will be preparing lunch and dinner from Tuesday, February 6 until Saturday, February 10 at The Dome's Mezzaluna and Sirocco and at lebua's Breeze. Saturday's gala dinner at Mezzuluna will be very special and has already been much talked about: it is the million-baht dinner at which six of the three-star chefs will be preparing a 10-course banquet with 10 of the world's great wines.

Finding the right wine was not always easy. However expensive it may be, and that must inevitably be the case, demand is always so high that the producers must ration it and allocate it to a few customers. The lebua Hotels & Resorts management team worked closely with Berry Brothers & Rudd, the London wine merchants who have been buying and selling fine wines at their St James's Street cellars for 300 years, and were able to secure some rare treasures.

They also have the services of a Master of Wine, Alun Griffiths MW, to serve and advise on the wines with The Dome's sommelier Roberto Gallotto. Masters of Wine are not unlike Michelin-starred chefs in that they are at the top of their profession as wine experts. It is a professional qualification started in London 50 years ago to uphold excellence in the wine trade. There are three merciless practical and written exams and tastings and a success rate of about 1 in 5, so one can safely say that an MW is someone who really knows his or her wine.

The questions have frequently been asked: What will the diners be getting for their one million baht, or US$25,000? And how can a meal cost that much?

See the box and think of the wine bill for a start. Some of these wines are candidates for "most expensive in the world" category. The prices may look like telephone numbers, but it is the cost that wine lovers desirous of the best are happy to pay for great names.

Think, too, of the imported ingredients flown in fresh from wherever in the world they are best sourced and in season. And then, of the undivided care and attention of six great chefs and their teams who have come to present their creations to us here in Bangkok, and not at their own restaurants in France, Germany or Italy.

But, says Ohri, "We are not looking at the individual costs of this or that, but at the total experience we are offering. Some of the guests are among the world's most prominent business people on the Forbes magazine list, travellers who are seeking a unique adventure in the realm of gastronomic celebration. They will find it in Bangkok."

On the night before the charity gala dinner, guests will be transferred by limo to lebua from their private jets for an overnight stay in one of the hotel's super luxury suites. They will be presented with personalised designer gifts from three prestigious companies - a designer jewellery gift, personalised Riedel Sommelier glasses and from Limoges china, a commemorative plate signed by the chefs taking part in Epicurean Masters II.

The proceeds from the charity gala dinner will go to His Majesty the King's Chai Pattana Foundation and Medecins Sans Frontieres.

"Epicurean Masters of the World II" will take place at The Dome and lebua hotel at State Tower, Silom Road, from February 6-10. Bookings can be made by calling 02-624-9555 or by email to reservation@thedomebkk.com. Five of the events are fully booked, but there are still places for nine, including the gala dinner.

For details, refer to the schedule below. For more information, please visit http://www.epicureanmasters.com.

GALAXY OF CULINARY FAME

At the six-day Epicurean Masters of the World gourmet festival in 2005, Bangkok saw for the first time a gathering of distinguished chefs who came to astound us with their cooking, and raise Bangkok's status as an international dining destination.

There were four chefs with three Michelin stars, three with two stars and David Thompson whose Thai restaurant in London has one star. In this year's Epicurean Masters of the World II, the focus is all on chefs with three stars. They will be working with the international team of chefs from The Dome and lebua at State Tower.

- Heinz Winkler - 3 Michelin stars, Residenz Heinz Winkler, Bavaria, Germany.

- Antoine Westermann - 3 Michelin stars, Restaurant Buerehiesel, Strasbourg, France.

- Jean-Michel Lorain - 3 Michelin stars, La Cotes Saint-Jacques, Burgundy, France.

- Marc Meneau - 3 Michelin stars, L'Esperance, Vezelay, France.

- Luisa Valazza - 3 Michelin stars, Al Sorriso, Piedmonte, Italy.

- Annie Feolde - 3 Michelin stars, Enoteca Pinchiorri, Florence, Italy.

- Heinz Beck - 3 Michelin stars, La Pergola, Rome, Italy.

- Alain Soliveres - 3 Michelin stars, Taillevent, Paris, France.

- Jacques Lameloise - 3/2 Michelin stars, Les Lameloise, Burgundy, France.

- Stephen Dion - Executive Sous Chef and Chef de Cuisine, Sirocco, The Dome.

- Andrea Montella - Chef de Cuisine, Mezzaluna, The Dome.

- Gregor Pfaff - Executive Pastry Chef, The Dome and lebua.

- Ho Chee Bun - Executive Chef, Breeze, lebua.

- Fouad Farid Rezk Zaglool - Chef de Cuisine, Cafe Mozu, lebua.

GALA TOP TEN

The charity gala dinner on Saturday, February 10 begins with:

- A creme brulee of foie gras with Tonga beans appetiser by Alain Soliveres, served with Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal 1990.

- A second entree of tartar of Kobe beef with Imperial Beluga caviar and Belons oyster by Antoine Westermann is served with Champagne Krug Clos du Mesnil 1995.

- A mousseline of crayfish with morel mushroom infusion by Alain Soliveres with Corton-Charlemagne 2000 from Domaine Jean Francois Choche-Dury.

- Tarte Fine with scallops and black truffle by Antoine Westermann with Le Montrachet 1996 from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.

- Brittany lobster osso buco by Jean-Michel Lorain with Romanee-Conti 1985 from Domain de la Romanee-Conti.

- Ravioli of guinea fowl and burrata cheese, veal reduction by Annie Feolde with Chateau Palmer 1961

- Saddle of lamb "Leonel" by Marc Meneau with Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1959.

- Supreme of pigeon en croute with cepes mushroom sauce and cipollotti by Heinz Winkler with Chateau Haut-Brion 1961.

- Veal cheeks with Perigord truffles by Heinz Winkler with Chateau Latour 1955.

- Imperial gingerbread pyramid with caramel and salted butter ice-cream by Jean-Michel Lorain with Chateau d'Yquem 1967.

Bangkok Post
Friday February 02, 2007