In a break from what has been the usual tradition, Chaine
des Rotisseurs, Bailliage de Pattaya, the world-wide gourmet group, ascended
to the top floor Empress Restaurant at the Dusit Resort for a festive
Chinese Chaine dinner last week.
Bailli
Louis Noll presents certificates of appreciation to Samatch Raikuntod and
Vijitra In-nongard.
Louis
and Hugh bid a warm farewell to Ingo Rauber, Maitra de Table Restaurateur
before his departure to take up his new post in Myanmar.
This was not a round of number 29 for the table, followed
by a 63 and a number 127 with fried rice, but was a well-planned evening,
which featured a mixture of traditional Chinese Cuisine but with
international influences. It began with scallops on a lemongrass skewer,
served with a salad of wheat noodles, which had been cooked in sesame oil.
As described by Charge de Mission, Hugh Millar, the scallops absorbed the
flavour from the lemon grass skewer and the addition of the sesame oil to
the noodles gave the entire dish a wonderful aroma.
The wine to commence was also not a rice wine from the
rough end of Shanghai, but an Omaka Springs Chardonnay 2000 from the
renowned Marlborough grape growing and wine producing area at the top of the
South Island of New Zealand.
There were indeed many courses, as one expects with a
Chinese banquet, but the courses all showed that little something extra that
could be brought out by Khun Thavorn Jitcharoen, the resident Chinese chef
at the Dusit, who was later rewarded with the certification from the Chaine
des Rotisseurs, awarded by the Bailli, Louis Noll (the ebullient). Examples
of these were the traditional lobster dim sum with a not so traditional
mango sauce, which Hugh described as “This is a perfect match. The
sweetness of the mango with the lobster is a delightful sweet and sour
combination,” and the shark fin soup whose preparation was a combination
of the traditional and the new. The soup itself was the traditional soup
that is normally served at the Empress, but accompanied by dried scallops,
fresh crabmeat and roe, and the Chaine members and guests were invited to
either eat the condiments first and then drink the soup or to add them to
the soup according to their own taste.
Bailli
Louis congratulates Dusit Resort Chef Hans Peter Held on a job well done.
The two
greats Bailli Louis Noll and Ranjith Chandrasiri, Maitra de Table
Restaurateur, president of the Royal Cliff Wine Club.
Connoisseurs
of fine dining, (l-r) John Littlechild, Elfi Seitz, executive editor of the
Pattaya Blatt, David Jones, Vinnie de Vries, Ingo Rauber, Yati Geralds, GM
of Cosmopolitan magazine and Wolfgang Hieronomi.
The
professionals, (l-r) Fredi Schaub, Chris Kridakorn-Odbratt, Andrew Khoo,
Chef Hans Peter Herald and Otto Kreuger.
The Chaine des Rotisseurs was founded by the skilled
‘meat roasters’ of yore, and it is traditional that one dish in the
Chaine menu should be a roast, and the Dusit Resort did not let the local
group down, presenting a main course of roasted veal tenderloin but served
with a Chinese derived stir fried rocket lettuce in oyster sauce and pureed
potatoes mixed with poppy seeds.
The wine to accompany the meats was a Nuits St George
1997. This wine from Burgundy is from 100% Pinot Noir grapes and comes from
an area that can be traced back to the year 636. Unfortunately, the 636
vintage had been sold out, but the Chaine members all seemed satisfied with
the 1997.
Dusit Resort’s Smatch Raikuntod, assistant F&B
manager and Khun Vijitra In-nongard, the assistant manager of the Empress
restaurant, accepted the certificates on behalf of the service staff,
bringing the gustatory evening to a close after the Sweet Chinese Chocolate
Dreams, a combination of chocolate sponge, chocolate mousse, cinnamon, and
black cherries, taken with the Muscat de Beame de Venise dessert wine from
the Rhone region of France.
The next Chaine des Rotisseurs memorable event will have
an Italian theme and will be held at Bruno’s Restaurant on August 17th.
Fredi Schaub, Chef Rotisseur has asked his good friend Gianni from
Gianni’s Restaurant in Bangkok to join him for the evening, and between
these two top chefs, the result will undoubtedly be spectacular.
Contact with the Chaine des Rotisseurs can be done through the Bailli,
Louis Noll, at the Mata Hari Restaurant. Tel. 0 3842 0939, e-mail: [email protected].
