Perched on top of Rock Salt, the hotel’s beachfront restaurant, Prime is an exclusive eatery with just 20 seats. This intimate size allows the chefs to create highly personalised dining experiences, including serene sunset dinners and private events for small groups.

Diners will enjoy dramatic live cooking experiences, with an open kitchen that features a custom-built wood-fired oven and Santa Maria-style barbecue grill. This allows executive chef Mark Jones and his team to roast, smoke or chargrill at temperatures of up to 700 degrees Celsius.

“Prime @ Rock Salt is a new dining destination for Phuket and you could not ask for a better setting. The rooftop at Rock Salt affords spectacular sea views, especially at sunset and later when the stars fill the night sky,” said Frank Grassmann, general manager of The Nai Harn. “Combining this stunning setting with an exceptional menu, Prime is set to become the ultimate setting for unforgettable evenings, including romantic dinners and exclusive events.”

 The appetisers feature some of the finest imported ingredients from around the world, including Spanish octopus, French goat’s cheese, Scottish salmon and Cornish mackerel, all expertly prepared in innovative ways that showcase the flavours. Diners can also indulge in an assortment of house-cured signature cold cuts presented with a choice of pickles, condiments and freshly-baked breads.

For the main course, outstanding cuts of meat and fresh seafood take centre stage, all cooked to perfection on Prime’s custom-built grills or baked in ovens to seal in the flavour.

Highlights include homemade smoked chorizo sausage fired in a furnace, succulent Klong Phai chicken, masala marinated monk fish tails from Brittany, and yoghurt-marinated Bultarra lamb cooked sous-vide and finished in a wood-fired oven.

Prime also serves a selection of prime steaks from Australia’s Rangers Valley, which is famous for producing the most incredible marbled Black Angus and wagyu beef from grain-fed cattle in New South Wales. Diners can choose from 400-day grain-fed Diamantina wagyu flank steak or 360-day wagyu rib-eye steak, perfectly chargrilled and served with a bone marrow and confit onion bread pudding, asparagus and red wine jus.

For an intimate feast, couples can share a 270-day Black Onyx Angus cote de boeuf, cooked over flames and oak chips, or indulge in barbecued glazed short ribs, slow-cooked for 48 hours then finished in the wood-fired oven. An extensive selection of fine wines – all of them hand-picked by global wine critic James Suckling – provides the ideal accompaniment to every meal.

The new bar will begin welcoming diners from the end of November.

For details, visit http://www.TheNaiHarn.com/dinings.

Opening in 2013, the restaurant has earned global attention for its service, ambience, and sophisticated menu to bring diners back to ancient Korea. The three-star recognition is a testament to the team’s pursuit of culinary excellence.

The restaurant has distinguished itself with premium, Korean-grown ingredients procured from exclusive sources around the country, while its menus are refreshed every three months to reflect the changing seasons and produce, placing emphasis on freshness and provenance.

Led by executive chef Kim Sung Il, the traditional recipes passed down over generations and revive these techniques in creative ways. Their commitment to excellence extends to the speciality cookware to reveal the pure flavours and ingredients.

“It is an exceptional honour to be acknowledged by the Michelin Guide for a third consecutive year,” says Kim.

“In recent years, Korean cuisine has gained recognition for its seasonal flavours and refined techniques. This latest Michelin honour is a validation of our team’s commitment to preserving and showcasing traditional Korean recipes.”

Find out more at http://www.Shilla.net.

FIVE YEARS AGO, a group of university students in Spain’s Basque Country decided they wanted to shake up a sector – any sector – but preferably one to do with food or drink.

So Imanol, Inigo, Gorka, Aritz and Taig picked the most traditional of them all – and created blue wine, one of several innovations in a deeply conservative industry.

After two years of research at the University of the Basque Country with the help of in-house, professional chemical engineers and an outside centre for food innovation, they launched their company Gik Live in 2015.

It sold 30,000 bottles in its first year and close to 500,000 in 2017.

Co-founder of Spanish winemaking company Gik, Aritz Lopez, tastes a glass of their blue wine Gik Life at the company’s winery in Maluenda, Aragon region. /AFP

The young company now exports to 21 countries, the United States being its main market – and wine-loving France its second.

From five rookie entrepreneurs, the company has grown to 12 employees.

“We understand that for many people… wine is something sacred that mustn’t be changed,” says Irish-Basque co-founder Taig Mac Carthy, standing at a bar in the company office in Portugalete, a northern town near Bilbao.

“But we like to change things and we’re not afraid to try,” he adds, as employees type at their computers in the room next door where a drum kit and guitars stand ready for use in true hipster start-up tradition.

One look at a glass of blue wine can be enough to send sommeliers scurrying.

Electric blue in colour, Gik Blue is made in several wineries in Spain following the traditional winemaking process.

As well as being sold online, some bars, restaurants and shops in Spain sell it.

The recipe?

Mix a lot of white wine with a smaller amount of red wine, and a tiny bit of must, or freshly-crushed grape juice.

The blue colour is obtained via a mix of “nature and technology” using two pigments – anthocyanin, found in the skin of red grapes, and indigo carmine.

The company won’t divulge any more of what they say is their “industrial secret”.

Gik Live used to use sugar substitutes but now adds dessert wine instead to get a sweet taste.

Other brands have followed suit in Spain including a blue sparkling cava, and the company has created other types.

There is red wine infused with Earl Grey tea, white wine infused with Japanese Sencha tea, or spicy red wine named “Bastarde.”

Prices online range roughly from 11 to 13 euros (Bt440 to Bt520) a bottle and clients are usually aged 25 to 45, men and women alike, says the company.

The reaction to blue wine has been decidedly mixed. Jean-Michel Deluc, former head sommelier at the Ritz in Paris, labelled it “surprising”. “It’s not what I’d drink, but still, it’s not bad – it’s quite well done,” he said.

Britain’s The Daily Telegraph newspaper decided it was “sweet. Very sweet. Too sweet,” calling it a “gimmick”.

For Rafael del Rey, director of the Spanish Observatory of the Wine Market, blue wine is one of several innovations in a “conservative” sector that has been losing consumers, including among the young, women and city dwellers.

Factors such as people having less time for meals, needing lighter products and a trend for slightly sweeter flavours have also had an impact. “Many of them haven’t found a wine they find attractive,” he says.

That demand, he adds, is generating innovative products like blue wine, or wine with low alcohol content.

In Europe, the company has had to label Gik Blue an “alcoholic drink” as authorities have ruled it isn’t wine due to its blue colour.

But other countries, including the United States, allow it to be sold as wine. “We knew from the start that Gik Blue would be a product that would polarise opinion a lot,” says 25-year-old Aritz Lopez, another co-founder of Gik Live.

FOLLOWING THE success of its two outlets in Bangkok’s eastern Pattanakarn area, Papa’s Kitchen has heading downtown with the opening of a new branch at Siam Center.

In operation since late last month, the new outlet called Papa’s Kitchen Metro offers a selection of 21 burgers, nibbles, salads, bangers ’n mash and BBQ pork ribs. Pastas and pizzas are not available though as the kitchen is too small to accommodate the equipment they need.

Taking its cue from industrial chic, the new venue has plenty of bare cement, metal, corrugated iron and exposed metal ducts and the wall is covered with hand-painted scenes of London’s Carnaby Street – the epicentre of the British youth revolution during the 1960s – and portraits of British icons like the Beatles and Charlie Chaplin.

“Our two locations on Pattanakarn Soi 30 and at the Park on Krung Thep Kritha Road are family-style restaurants aimed at people who live on the outskirts of the city and don’t want to trek into town for good Western fare. When Siam Center approached us about opening a new location downtown where most of the shoppers are young and trendy, we felt it was an ideal opportunity to expand the business and explore the potential for delivery services to downtown areas,” says its director of operations Tom Tabruyn.

The brand, founded by Bangkok Burger guru Jim Moroney, uses freshly baked brioche buns made exclusively by Maison Jean Philippe – one of Bangkok’s viennoiserie specialists, which provides artisanal breads to top restaurants.

“The brioche normally has a slightly sweet taste, but our special bun is more savoury. It’s also light and fluffy with a slightly crispy texture outside and a soft inside that absorbs the sauce,” he adds.

Chicken Wings 

For a snack, try the Deep-fried Chicken Wings (Bt169 for six/Bt299 for 12) that come with a choice of three sauces in different level of spiciness – BBQ, tabasco chipotle and maple syrup, and “help me” hot. The wings are tossed with chopped spring onions and served with homemade ranch dip. Other great eats are Fried Salt & Pepper Calamari (Bt229), Spinach & 3 Cheese Bake (Bt199), Carbonara Spring Rolls (Bt199), and Nachos (Bt249).

 Caesar Salad 

Worth trying is the Caesar Salad (Bt239/Bt279) offering grilled chicken breasts that are marinated with buttermilk for a soft texture then served on a bed of fresh and crispy cos lettuce with boiled egg, croutons, crispy bacon and parmesan cheese with homemade Caesar dressing.

Fish & Chip

The British favourite, Fish & Chips (Bt329), features a large fillet of cod perfectly batter fried in a blend of three oils to ensure the outside remains crisp while the fish inside is soft and juicy. It’s served with French fries, tartare sauce and malt vinegar.

Three burgers are on the menu, all of them so big that wrapping your jaw around the chunky beef patties and other ingredients is almost impossible. The Guvnor (Bt459) has 250-grams of beef with cheese and bacon and The Chuck Norris (Bt499) offers two 170-gram beef patties, giant onion ring, two rashers of crispy bacon and cheese.

Siam Metro Burger 

Available only at Siam Center is the Siam Metro Burger (Bt479) featuring a 250-gram beef patty served in freshly baked Panini with buffalo mozzarella, beef tomatoes, rocket salad, fresh basil, pesto sauce, garlic mayo, red onion and balsamic vinegar drizzle.

“We use premium Australian beef, but our pork and chicken are locally sourced. Our burgers are American style but with an English influence. American-style burger is normally plain with just a bun, beef patty and cheese but we go for the European influences with different toppings like coleslaw, sauteed mushroom, pickles and fried egg,” says Tabruyn.

And also unlike in the States, most of Papa’s Kitchen burgers come with a knife and fork.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Chicken lovers can munch on a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich (Bt289) – brioche sesame seed bun with strips of deep-fried chicken thigh marinated in buttermilk and tossed with hot sauce with layers of lettuce, chopped onion, wasabi coleslaw and ranch dressing. It’s served with French fries, but you can pay an extra of Bt35 to have waffle fries tossed with paprika powder.

Moshi Moshi

Moshi Moshi (Bt289) is a Kurobuta pork patty char-grilled to juicy precision with teriyaki BBQ sauce, wasabi coleslaw, beer battered onion rings, garlic mayo and lettuce.

Chocolate Malt 

For drinks, there are ice cream shakes like Chocolate Malt (Bt149) with chocolate chip and whipped cream or Coke Float (Bt99) – coke with soda, vanilla ice cream and chocolate chip. The cocktails like Mojito and Passion Fruit Frozen Margarita are Bt199 a pop but go for Bt169 during the happy hours from 5 to 8pm daily.

Coke Float 

To celebrate the opening, Papa’s Kitchen Metro has two special deals for early birds (10am to noon) and students (2 to 5pm) with a burger set for Bt199. You get the choice of Big Cheese Beef Burger, Moshi Moshi or Buffalo Chicken Sandwich served together with wasabi coleslaw, French fries, and a choice of soft drink.

TAKE A BIG BITE

Papa’s Kitchen Metro on the second floor of Siam Center is open daily from 10 to 10.

Call (091) 804 1250 or visit “Papa’s Kitchen” page on Facebook.

Cooking the Books: Better ways to live and eat

What Chefs Cook At Home: Simple Thai dishes from Chef Korn of Erawan

“My mum ended up in Thailand because of World War II, her family was starving and she was the eldest so they sent her out to find her cousins in Bangkok. My father was driven out of his hometown in China because of communism. He and his brothers swam across the river, and ended up in Hong Kong where they were picked up my uncle. One day, my other uncles decided they wanted to do business in Thailand, so my father was sent there. My mother says their lives were like a Chinese drama series,” says Pitaya, laughing.

Having come from such difficult circumstances, Pitaya’s parents were determined to have something to call their own. So they set up a tiny restaurant in Thailand with 16 seats, serving Cantonese fare. But the chefs working in the kitchen proved unreliable, and turnover rates were high.

“After a few years, my dad said, ‘Let’s do a concept that has less reliance on the chef. That’s how the suki steamboat concept came in,” says Pitaya.

After growing the Coca brand into a global hotpot favourite, Pitaya has now retired and passed the reins to his daughter Nathalie, a nutritionist who is trying to make the food at Coca healthier.

And that’s also how the Coca legacy was born. The brand, which is now 61 years old, is globally renowned for its delicious suki (Thai hotpot) and signature homemade suki sauce and has since spread its wings, with over 30 outlets around the world.

Pitaya, who took over the family restaurant when his father passed away, wasn’t really groomed for the role, but says he’s always had a strong interest in the food business (although he isn’t a chef, a fact he repeats a few times).

“My mother had me when she was older, so she raised me like I was a fragile chicken egg. I wasn’t allowed to go to friends’ houses or do outdoor activities. But I always knew what I liked, because I grew up in a Chinese family with one golden rule in the house – we must have dinner together no matter how busy everyone is. That’s how I learnt my cooking skills – when my parents were talking and had discussions about food,” he says.

Young couple Lee (left) and Shun are the new franchise owners of Coca Malaysia.

While Pitaya went on to start the renowned Mango Tree chain of Thai restaurants in 1994, Coca has always remained close to his heart.

“My mother realised that if you want to do steamboat with fresh ingredients, you can’t hide – it’s pure good meat or seafood, which is why at Coca, we are very particular about good ingredients. I developed further from that, and convinced everybody in my organisation that if it’s not good enough for your children, don’t serve it to other people’s children. Every customer is someone’s child,” he says.

In Malaysia, Coca first opened 27 years ago but has been noticeably absent for nearly a decade. Last month, Coca reappeared in Malaysia at Bangsar Shopping Centre in Kuala Lumpur with new partners in the form of young married couple Jannio Shun and Elizabeth Thea Lee and a revitalised plan to lure in younger diners.

“Our old partners would be about 65 now and our new partners are 30. So it’s a huge generation gap and will undeniably make a huge difference on how they present the restaurant. And Coca in Bangkok is now run by my daughter Nathalie, the third generation and she’s about 30 as well. So you see Coca changing substantially. Even the food, you will see the vast difference. Nathalie’s a nutritionist and she was the one who influenced me towards more healthy options – Coca is the very first to use rice bran oil, organic vegetables and free-range chicken,” Pitaya says.

In line with its more youthful image, Coca has plans to open more outlets in Malaysia in the next few years and will be diversifying its menu to include enhanced a la carte options, in a bid to cater to young urbanites who may not have the time to fully indulge in steamboat meals.

“Sometimes when people think of steamboat, it takes too long. So to attract the younger office crowd, we are adding more a la carte items to the menu, like fried patanko (dough) and Portuguese chicken – hearty meals. And we’ll plate it nicely, rather than slap everything around,” he says, laughing.

Although he has officially retired from the business now, Pitaya has taken on an ambassadorial role, assuming the mantle of mentor to younger chefs, whom he teaches the guiding principles that have led Coca to success.

image: http://www1.star2.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/str2_abicoca_abirami_6_FORONLINE.jpg

Crispy fried patanko with condensed milk is one of the addictive options on Coca’s menu.

“I’m not a trained chef, but I go to the kitchen because I want to train the youngsters in the proper way,” he says.

Retirement has also led Pitaya on a journey of discovery. He now actively thinks about where food comes from and whether the food served at the restaurant is sustainably grown or not. Part of this enhanced enlightenment has come from his daughter Robin, a law graduate turned sustainable farmer. Robin owns and runs a farm that supplies chillies to all the Coca restaurants in Thailand.

These are the chillies which are then blended into Coca’s signature suki sauce.

Ultimately, Pitaya believes quality produce is deeply intertwined with taste, two things his mother never compromised on, and which he continues to hold on to.

“My workforce is younger since I retired. When young people come in, they have different ideas, but one thing I say is ‘Be careful, because in order to survive the next 20 years, your core values on food have to be there.’ I think people still come to Coca, because they know the food here will be good and reliable,” he says.

Two Gozen lunch platters include traditionally prepared soup, sashimi, tempura, and grilled and simmered dishes featuring premium seafood and seasonal autumn ingredients. The first platter offers a starter of grilled persimmon with shrimp, octopus, and maitake mushroom, and a soup of mackerel with shimeji mushroom. The second features a simmered dish of minced saury fish ball, leek, shiitake mushroom, carrot, daikon, and ginger, and a tempura selection of shrimp, pond smelt, and vegetables, all rounded off with Japanese chestnut pudding with sweet red beans.

The late autumn Kaiseki dinner offerings include a starter of shrimp and sake-steamed scallop with bettara pickles, maitake mushroom, and sesame cream sauce, and a grilled dish of Spanish mackerel with oyster miso sauce, and beef teriyaki garnished with chestnuts. Also highly seasonal is a simmered offering of autumn mackerel with miso, konjak, daikon radish, and shiitake mushroom.

The Gozen lunch (Bt1,300-plus) and Kaiseki dinner (Bt4,700-plus) runs from November 5 to 25. Lunch is served from 11.30am to 2.30pm, and dinner from 6 to 10.30pm.

For information and reservations, call (02) 687 9000 or book online at http://www.OkuraBangkok.com.

“Culinary Delights from Turkey” is co-sponsored by Turkish Airlines and will feature gala dinners at the restaurant Nimitr on the 27th floor on October 26 and 27.

Each will feature a different five-course set menu priced at Bt3,000-plus for food only and Bt4,000-plus for dishes paired with wine.

Among the tempting dishes will be hummus (cumin-flavoured chickpea puree), manti (meat-stuffed mini-dumplings with sumac), slow-cooked lamb shoulder wrapped in kadayif with garlic pilaf, a traditional pumpkin dessert with tahini and walnuts, and cream-stuffed dried apricots and figs.

Chef Mireli earned critical acclaim at the Fourth Asian Organic Gourmet Festival earlier this year at 137 Pillars Suites & Residences. He has worked in some of the best restaurants around the world, including Michel Roux Jr’s Le Gavroche in London, the first British restaurant to be awarded three Michelin stars.

He has also put in time at the two-Michelin-star and four-Gault Millau toque restaurant Hubertus in Austria, and at German chef Johann Lafers’ Michelin-star Le Val d’Or.

Diners at the gala dinners get to participate in a lucky draw for a chance to win two round-trip business-class tickets to Europe sponsored by Turkish Airlines.

Make reservations at (02) 079 7000 or https://137PillarsBangkok.com/events/culinary-delights-from-turkey.

A vegan diet contains far less saturated fat and increases the amount of vegetables in your diet. It also helps conserve water, reduce greenhouse gases and your carbon footprint and, of course, protects our animal friends.

The dinner menus feature nutritious yet delectable dishes such as refreshing Cucumber Roll, Tom Kha Hed (a traditional coconut soup with mushrooms), Fettucine Truffle, Gazpacho Andalouz and Tofu Masala, which brings out the rich flavours of India with a little twist.

The dinner is priced at Bt1,500-plus for the six-course set menu and Bt2,500-plus for seven courses.

Find out more at (02) 126 8866, extension 1201, and http://www.Siam-Bangkok.Anantara.com.