Culinary delight
Some of the city’s top chefs are serving up their best cuisine in support of the 2016 Bangkok Chefs Charity Gala Dinner
Some of the city’s top chefs serve up their best cuisine at charity gala dinner.
The Bangkok Chefs Charity project was initiated in 2009 with the aim of raising funds for the less-fortunate children of Thailand. Setting an important milestone for fine gastronomy, it was the first time in Thailand that executive chefs from several five-star hotels joined hands to cook up a world-class meal, the Bangkok Chefs Charity Gala Dinner and Auction, for an altruistic cause. Their incredible teamwork bore fruitful results. Now held annually, the event has over the past seven years raised more than 62.8 million baht for charity.
The majority of the money was presented to Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to benefit Border Patrol Police schools under her patronage. The rest went towards scholarships, educational supplies, sporting equipment, learning facilities and nutritious meals for the underprivileged at schools in remote areas across Thailand.
Continuing its generosity, the eighth edition of the high-profile affair is set to take place on Monday, July 18.
Participated in by executive chefs from 20 leading hotels and Thai Airways International, the event will once again be held at the Royal Ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok.
“This year is an auspicious milestone for the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, as we celebrate our 140th year of delivering legendary hospitality,” said the hotel’s director of food & beverage Thomas Kinsperger.
“Hence, we are most honoured and privileged to have been a part of this remarkable philanthropic tradition for eight consecutive years.”
The evening, presided over by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, promises as always to create great memories. It will showcase the unparalleled quality, creativity and dexterity of the top professionals in the food-and-beverage industry, through a 10-course haute cuisine feast.
The dinner, starting off with a Champagne and canapé reception, will be paired with some of the finest wines supported by Central Wine Cellar, Thailand’s leading importer and distributor of wines from around the world.
Confirming its purpose to help society, the organiser has this year extended its support to another vulnerable domain — sustainable agriculture.
Thus the menu will be prepared with premium fine-food products imported from around the world, alongside top-grade ingredients grown right here in the Kingdom.
Highlighted are Camellia oleifera tea-seed oil and pesticide-free vegetables from the royal-initiated agricultural-development projects under the Chaipattana Foundation.
The event’s founder and organiser, Patcharin Hame-unggull of Gourmet One, said: “The reason we incorporate the teaseed oil in our creations is that we want the public to know about the many benefits of tea-tree oil.
“The Chaipattana Foundation has carried out extensive agricultural-development projects, producing many quality products in order to ensure sustainable benefits for all communities. And that’s in line with the event’s concept.”
As a fine-foods supplier, Patcharin confirmed that the quality of the ingredients will be top-class, as always, with highlights including Canadian lobster, Rougie foie gras, Australian lamb, Scottish salmon and French white asparagus.
They are to be prepared according to the chefs’ ingeniously crafted recipes, blending thee classic flavour profiles of fine European cuisine with innovative cooking techniques and dazzling presentation.
Some of the evening’s sumptuous offerings are Australian lamb loin in golden-puff pastry with thyme-scented Madeira sauce; slightly-smoked Hokkaido scallop with a citrus sea-vegetables sphere in dashi consommé; pan-fried foie gras with rhubarb purée and hibiscus sauce; cured duck breast with tamarind liquid croquette and fruit powder; butter-poached langoustine on buckwheat crackers with white miso aioli; and a Valrhona manjari chocolate dome with iced lemongrass praline.
According to Nick Reitmeier, vice-president of buying international food & wine for the Central Food Retail company, it has taken a month-long series of meticulous tastings to finally come up with the wines that perfectly match the food.
“We want to give people something they recognise,” said Reitmeier. “The seven wines to be served that night boast 89-91 Parker points. So the guests will enjoy outstanding wine quality throughout the meal, and I believe there must be at least one or two wines that anybody would specially like.”
The 2016 Bangkok Chefs Charity Gala Dinner & Auction will take place in the Royal Ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, on Monday, July 18. The event will be presided over by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. The evening will start at 5pm with a grand Champagne cocktail-and-canapés reception in the foyer of the Royal Ballroom. Tickets are 12,500 baht net per seat (for a table of 10). For more information and reservations, please call Khun Rachanee (F&B Dept), Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, at 02-6590302, or contact Gourmet One, at 02-4033388 ext 508 or 085-152-6857.
It’s the first time Reitmeier has switched his seat from that of a regular guest to that of a sponsor.
“For years I have followed the event as a foodie. I’ve seen it grow phenomenally over time. For me, it’s one of the social events of the year, because it brings many hotel chefs together to do something for a common cause. I think it’s great, and what they do for the kids is amazing. The money really goes to the people who need it.
“As a wine distributor, this event — participated in by wine connoisseurs as well as simply regular drinkers — is a platform where consumers can taste the wine for themselves.
“We are in a country where we cannot talk about alcohol publicly. But wine is not a spirit that tastes the same. It’s changing every year because it’s a natural product, and we feel it’s a shame that we can’t tell that to the consumers.
“This year, I think the quality of wine is very good. It matches the quality of the event and the food.
“We’ve made it very simple for the white wine selections. All the whites are from 2013, in which you have different grapes from Sauvignon to Chardonnay, Viognier to Sauternes. They are good and interesting representations of a very good vintage year.
“For the red we’ve chosen 2010 and 2012, and opted for the second growth of the Bordeaux grapes, which is much easier to drink. We don’t want to showcase just the fantastic labels, but also what really shows in the glass. And from the tasting, we really think these wines are best for drinking now, not that they should wait another four or five years,” Reitmeier said.
The evening guarantees impeccable service and hospitality by the Mandarin Oriental’s team of professionals.