Food & Entertainment
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food & entertainment The world is your oyster with fabulous entrees and fantastic desserts served in some of the coolest dining spaces to be enjoyed in Asia. Try creating culinary masterpieces with recipes from our Star Chefs from the South East Asian region, or choose a new wine for your next meal pairing. If you're looking to chill out in style, consider the options in the Chill Out section or just relax and be catered to in gourmet style at our featured restaurants. Page 41 THE FROM WOK Local Chefs Beat 14 Contenders Fonterra Foodservices Malaysia recently held the inaugural Fonterra Foodservices Pastry Challenge 2009 at KDU College, Penang Campus, attracting 15 talented local chefs who competed in pairs for the top awards. The participants were required to present two cakes with the theme ‘Flavours of Penang’, to be designed, plated and served, all within three hours. Eric Cheam and his partner (centre) receive their award from Tan Chian Pang (left) and Sharifah Following the regional success of the Fonterra Foodservices Pastry Challenge in countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, Fonterra Foodservices, in collaboration with the Chef Association Malaysia, Penang Chapter, led the competition to the shores of Malaysia for the very first time this year. The maiden Pastry Challenge was officiated by Dato’ Kee Phaik Cheen, Chairman of the Penang Tourism Action Council (PTAC), who was represented by Cik Chef Shamsuri and Saifuddin from Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur Sharifah Loon, the Director of Tourism Malaysia, Penang Office. The Best Award Gold winner, chef Eric Cheam, received prize money of RM5,000 and will get to Malaysiana In Abu attend a Pastry Training Course conducted by Jean-Francois Arnaud, the acclaimed Master Pastry Chef Dhabi who has been conferred numerous awards, including the prestigious Best Pastry Chef of France. The In an effort to promote Malaysian pastry course is sponsored by Fonterra Foodservices as part of its effort to raise the standards of the cuisine in Abu Dhabi, two local foodservices industry. representatives from Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur were selected to participate in a Malaysian Gourmet Salvo Food Festival which was held in Only two-years old, the Penang Junior Chefs Club (PJCC) and its committees and members worked Sheraton Abu Dhabi in November. together with a team of trainee service staffs plus a few mass communication personnel and a little Malay kitchen Sous Chef guidance from the Chefs’ Association of Malaysia’s Penang Chapter to treat a group of 80 guests from Shamsuri and Saifuddin, Commis the Salvation Army Children’s Home with a 5-course fine dining western set dinner. 2 in the Malay kitchen, presented The purpose of serving a fine dining western set dinner to the youth was to provide them with an a menu that comprised of opportunity to experience the uniqueness of fine dining, hotel service and to educate them on proper traditional Malay appetizers, table etiquette. meat main courses, seafood main courses and desserts. Both chef and commis Jaan par André Named Asia’s 4th Best cooked up a storm as they Restaurant prepared a special buffet spread Swissôtel The Stamford announced the ascension of for the opening ceremony, Jaan par André, helmed by Chef de Cuisine André seafood buffet, cooking class Chiang, into the second edition of the Miele Guide – menus and a cocktail style Asia’s first truly independent and authoritative guide buffet. The well crafted menus to the region’s finest restaurants. Jaan par André is featured mouth-watering local now the well-respected guide’s highest-ranking new Chef Andre Chiang and Nigel Moore, Director of F&B, restaurant inclusion, coming in at No. 4 amongst delicacies such as young mango Swissotel The Stamford, receiving the Miele Guide Trophy salad with sweet prawns and Asia’s Top Restaurants. The restaurant also has a lime dressing. spectacular standing of No. 2 in the new category of ‘Singapore’s Top 5 Restaurants’ – an affirmation of Jaan par André’s rapidly rising recognition amongst Singapore’s bon vivant set. Jaan par André’s inclusion in the Miele Guide is the most recent recognition the restaurant has achieved in Chef André’s a most remarkable first year as chef de cuisine. Since the Taiwan-born Chef André’s first menu launch at Jaan par André in July 2008, his artisanal flair and exuberance for using unique ingredients have captivated elite gourmands, many of whom return repeatedly to savour his exemplary cooking that encapsulates the creative spirit of French nouvelle cuisine. In April, the 33-year-old was named Rising Chef of the Year at the World Gourmet Summit Awards of Excellence – Asia’s most prestigious hospitality trade awards. Prior to his appointment at Swissôtel the Stamford, Chef André was also named one of the “Top 10 Young Chefs in Asia 2006” and was featured amongst “The Best 150 Relais Gourmand Master Chefs of the World 2006” by Relais & Chateaux. 42 hospitality asia hospitality asia ~ December-February 2010 Page 43 C M Y K WEST EAST N’ Shinji Morihara Executive Japanese Chef Fairmont Singapore Fairmont Singapore’s Inagiku, welcomes Chef Shinji Morihara as its newly appointed culinary sensei tasked with propelling the recently revamped restaurant into a sphere where timeless kaiseki craft accompanies authentic Japanese ingredients of the finest quality. Chef Morihara boasts over 20 years of expertise in wielding the culinary reigns at top-notch Japanese establishments in Asia, including the JW Marriott Hotel Nagoya in Japan where he commandeered banquets for over 1,000 diners on a daily basis. Chef Morihara also commands respect for his stellar reputation of establishing remarkable prestige and celebrity amongst the restaurants under his care. During his tenure as executive chef of the acclaimed Zen-inspired Inagiku restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong, Chef Morihara won praise in the city’s coveted Michelin Guide and Denis Vecchiato was widely acknowledged as Hong Kong’s top Japanese chef. Executive Chef Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort And Spa, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Christian Bruhns Executive Chef Denis Vecchiato’s objective in his professional Hilton Beijing life is to render his service to clients by giving them a delightful and extra value dining Hilton Beijing has announced the experience customized to their own needs. appointment of Christian Bruhns as In order to do this he utilizes his formidable its new Executive Chef responsible for abilities and calls upon his experience at food conceptualization and promotions. managing a culinary team to deliver nothing Bruhns will impart more than 20 years but the best. of culinary and kitchen management Vecchiato joined Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru experience into the Hilton Beijing’s Resort And Spa in June 2007 and has made five restaurants and bars – Elements a name for himself via the success of the restaurant, One East, Tonic Lounge, resort’s restaurants, namely Peppino which Caffé Cino and Zeta Bar – all under has been on Malaysia Tattler’s Best Restaurant one roof. list for three years. A native German, Bruhns joined the Prior to his Malaysian posting, he was Hilton Family in 1997. Prior to his appointment to Hilton Beijing, he worked as Executive attached to The Regent Shanghai where Sous Chef at Hilton Shanghai, Executive Chef at Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa, where he he was Executive Sous Chef of the pre – and his team won the MEAP 2006 F&B Award of Excellence, and Executive Chef at opening team in 2005 before his promotion to Hilton Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Executive Chef in May 2006. He developed his passion for food and cooking when he started working in various restaurants in Germany at the age of 16. He broadened his culinary knowledge by working on the world’s famous five-star cruise liner MS EUROPA. He also has rich experience working in Europe, South Africa, Middle East, United Kingdom, America and Caribbean as well as in Asian countries including China and Malaysia. 44 hospitality asia EAST N’ WEST Roberto Hernandez Egidio Latorraca Executive Chef Chef De Cuisine Bodega Y Tapas, Singapore Angelina at the Hotel Metropole Hanoi, Vietnam A native of Madrid, Spanish chef Roberto Hernandez was headhunted to join the ever Angelina at the Hotel Metropole Hanoi has expanding Esmirada Group of Restaurants recruited one of Macao’s finest Italian chefs, in 2008 as the Executive Chef of Bodegas Egidio Latorraca, to supply some panache to Y Tapas. the city’s Italian aspirations. Latorraca comes His first position as chef came in 2003 to Angelina from a stint as chef de cuisine at with Restaurant Urkiola Mendi in Madrid. Portofino in The Venetian at Macao. Until 2005, Previous to joining Bodegas Y Tapas, he was Latorraca worked in kitchens across Europe - the Assistant Executive Chef at Hotel Clement principally in Milan and Paris -before heading in Madrid where he worked for three years. East, first to Australia and then to Macao. Born in 1976, his destiny as a chef was Those who’ve worked with Latorraca cite his woven around happy memories of a delightful focus on details, and his precision, whether he’s childhood spent in his mother’s cozy traditional Spanish-style kitchen. Sponsored by a at work on a grilled artichoke heart or talking European Union exchange programme, he began his formal culinary education at 21 years to a diner. Born, raised and educated in Milan, old at Ristorante Il Pellegrino in Vicenza, Italy, where he spent two months as a kitchen Italy, Latorraca won the Hotels and Restaurants helper before returning to Madrid, Spain to continue his training in Hotel-Escuela de la Services Specialist and Food and Beverage Comunidad de Madrid for a further period of two years.