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Macarons & Tartletts at the World Gourmet Festival

It doesn’t look like Thai food, and you won’t find any local dishes at the 9th Annual World Gourmet Festival, which brought internationally acclaimed chefs from as far as Iceland and Russia to the Four Seasons Bangkok.  The event, says Director of Food and Beverage Malcolm Omond, gives Bangkok residents and visitors the opportunity to savor meals from restaurants around the world in one week, an experience that could not be replicated with even the most ambitious travel schedule.  From September 22-28, attendees enjoyed a series of individual cooking demonstrations, set dinners, and afternoon teas from the likes of Le Bernardin Executive Pastry Chef Michael Laiskonis, Icelandic Master Chef Siggi Hall and Hudson Valley Foie Gras Owner Michael Ginor, which culminated in the 7-course World Gourmet Gala Dinner on Saturday to benefit HRH Princess Soamsawali’s “Save a Child’s Life from AIDs Project.”  (Click here to view the Gala Dinner menu.) I sat down with a few of the chefs to get their stories.

James Beard Award winner Celina Tio’s elegant, understated new American cooking won her national praise at Kansas City’s The American Restaurant, but now Tio is striking out on her own.  At Julia(n), slated to open in either Kansas City or Charlotte by the end of 2008, Tio will bring her sophisticated cooking to a more casual setting with dishes like homemade pierogis with cayenne creme fraiche.  Here at the World Gourmet Festival, Tio demonstrated the accessibility of modern American cooking by showing event attendees simple techniques, such as making the cheese for her Forest Mushroom Stack with Crispy Farm Egg and Housemade Herbed Ricotta Cheese, and serving up a two 5-course dinners at Biscotti in the Four Seasons.  Be on the look out for her upcoming cookbook, which is now in the works.

Celina Tio of Upcoming Restaurant Julia(n)

Celina Tio’s Forest Mushroom Stack with Crispy Farm Egg and House Made Ricotta Cheese

Celina Tio’s Scallop Crema with Summer Truffle

Outside Biscotti of The Four Seasons Bangkok During Celina Tio’s 5-Course Dinner

Inside Biscotti of The Four Seasons Bangkok During Celina Tio’s 5-Course Dinner

Maurizio Quaranta, who gained his first Michelin star with Alba restaurant Locanda del Pilone, shared Italy’s fierce pride in its regional cooking, with an emphasis on traditional local products, with diners, who had the chance to taste Eggplant Pudding with Scamoraza Cheese and Fresh Tomato, Risotto with Pumpkin, Tuma Murazzano Cheese and Black Truffle, and Parfait Toron with Warm Chocolate.  Quaranta will soon open an intimate restaurant, La Speranza, in Farigliano, a small village just outside of Torino.  At his new venue, Quaranta will draw on the pristine products of local butchers, farmers and other purveyors to deliver simple, but exacting, Piedmontese fare.  It’s a a shame this restaurant wasn’t open for event goers at Italy’s 2008 Slow Food Festival.

Maurizio Quaranta of Upcoming Restaurant La Speranza & Danilo Aiassa of Biscotti in the Four Seasons Bangkok

Maurizio Quaranta’s Eggplant Pudding with Scamoraza Cheese and Fresh Tomato

Maurizio Quaranta’s Parfait Toron with Warm Chocolate

If Tio represents the new wave of casual, yet refined, American cooking, and Quaranta the steadfast old world approach to local Italian food, then Australian-born Glen Ballis is at the forefront of a flashy dining scene fueled by Russia’s new wealth.  At Moscow hotspot Nedal’nij Vostok (“Not-Far East), Ballis serves up sexy international food for Russia’s well-heeled and well-connected.  Bangkok residents got a taste of Russia’s new culinary flare in Ballis’s Crab Vareneki (Russian-Style Potstickers) with Shiso Sabayon and Char Grilled A5 Kobe Beef with White Asparagus and Tomato Citrus Salsa, among others.  It’s a far cry from boiled potatoes and blini, not to mention phad thai and green curry, but one that Russians and Thais alike can appreciate.

Glen Ballis of Moscow’s Nedal’nij Vostok

Glen Ballis’s Crab Vareneki (Russian-Style Potstickers) with Shiso Sabayon

Glen Ballis’s Seared Scallops with Green Apple, Horseradish and Beetroot Salad with Lobster Oil