The Grill Room at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort was the splendid setting for the Rotary Club Jomtien Pattaya Christmas Dinner held on the evening of the 17th of December.
The Grill Room has to be not only one of the best restaurants in Pattaya, with an affordable menu, world famous & award winning wine cellar & 5 star service, but moreover it’s the colonial setting and ambiance that makes the Grill Room so special.
The room was full to capacity, which simply goes to illustrate the allure of the Grill Room and the great support that the club gets from the community.
The organizing committee of the Rotary Club Jomtien Pattaya was keen to call this a dinner as opposed to a party, yet it may well have been named a musical extravaganza as the guests enjoyed their meals with a melodious backdrop that lasted the whole evening.
The resident pianist at the Grill Room played as the guests were seated and the wine was served, then PDG Peter Malhotra gave a warm welcome to all the guests and gave special thanks to Antonello Passa, the general manager of the Royal Cliff Hotels Group, for allowing the club to use the Grill Room for the occasion.
Peter then introduced the Trio Band, resident musicians at the Royal Cliff, who gave a lovely series of festive songs for a delightful musical interlude.
Dinner, which comprised of a seasonal menu created by the ever imaginative Executive Chef Walter Thenisch, was served, commencing with a rose of smoked salmon, chicken parfait and shrimp rillettes.
At this juncture Peter introduced another highly talented duo, Larisa Ezhelenko and Marcus Tristan.
Larisa Ezhelenko hails from Novosibirsk, Russia, and attended a specialist music school at the Novosibirsk Academy of Music. It was there that she discovered a love of singing and she went on to work with the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra. She also played with them at the Tchaikovsky Philharmonic Hall in Moscow and has sung the works of Mozart, Rossini, and Donizetti.
She was accompanied on the piano by Marcus Tristan. Tristan has served as the Associate Composer with the St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra Klassika and has worked the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, the St Petersburg Chamber Choir and composed a Requiem that was premièred in Indianapolis in 2013.
They played a series of songs and Marcus then switched from piano to recorder as Larisa took over on the ivories.
They were then joined by Ben Khinkhunthod, who won the hearts of the whole audience. This seven year old child prodigy showed talents beyond his age as he played a number of festive songs on the piano.
The staff served a traditional roasted butterball Christmas turkey with all the trimmings, as the wine kept flowing, followed by Christmas pudding with brandy sauce.
As the evening drew to a close, Peter Malhotra gave his thanks to the musicians, the GM, executive chef and staff of the Royal Cliff; to Ken Whitty for sponsoring the Paulaner Beer; to the President of the Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya Vutikorn Kamolchote; and to all for helping to make this a highly memorable evening for the members and guests of the Rotary Club of Jomtien-Pattaya.
