Your guide to Bangkok's food festival season
Don’t wait until the end of the year to start celebrating. Now’s the season for Bangkok’s food festivals.
8 years ago
See also: 7 hot new restaurants to check out in Bangkok this October
COURAGEOUS BANGKOK
DATE: Oct 9, 4-8pm
LOCATION: The House on Sathorn (108 Sathorn Rd., 02-344-4023. BTS Chong Nonsi)
PRICE: B1,500 for 10 food/drink tickets
Backed by some of the people from last year’s Rise Above fundraising event, this one sees 20 of Bangkok’s leading chefs along with major food and beverage suppliers join forces to promote sustainable living. You’ll be able to get dishes from familiar faces like Gaggan, Bo.lan, Bunker, Quince, Appia, Sloane’s, The Oyster Bar and Little Beast, and drinks from Beervana, Wine Garage, Raitong Organics and more. Just purchase a book of 10 tickets at the door, which you can redeem for food and drinks, and your money will go to Courageous Kitchen, a Bangkok-based charity organization that funds hilltribe children to gain basic kitchen handling, English and leadership skills.
EAT DRINK PINK
DATE: Oct 31, 6-10pm
LOCATION: The Peninsula (333 Charoennakorn Rd., 02-020-2888. Free ferry from BTS Saphan Taksin)
PRICE: B3,000 net (limited to 300 tickets)
Head to The Peninsula hotel’s riverside lawn for a very un-hotel list of foodie names this October. As you mingle and enjoy good eats and drinks, the festival will be raising funds and awareness for breast cancer. Returning in 2013 for the third year, it promises food from more than 35 of Bangkok’s best kitchens, including Gaggan, Eat Me, Nahm, Le Du, Sensi, Bo.lan, Smokin’ Pug, The Never Ending Summer and Blue Elephant. All proceeds go to the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer Foundation and Pink Park Village, a place that provides comprehensive care to breast cancer patients. Make your reservations now.
BIG FOOD
DATE: Oct 16,
LOCATION: Soi Nana, Charoenkrung Rd.
PRICE: Free entry. Food and drink prices vary.
Celebrate World Food Day with the foodie crowd on the fringes of Chinatown. Big Food takes over Soi Nana with all kinds of delicious eats—and it’s for a good cause. Aiming to promote ecological food systems, the event is backed by the likes of sustainable seafood purveyor Fisherfolk. On top of food from names like Seven Spoons, Sloane’s, Err, Maison Jean Philippe and Mad Moa, you can expect local vendors like Nang Loeng's sweets shop and Yaowarat noodles shop, as well as cold beers from Beervana and Udomsuk Brewing. There will also be activities like wild community forest honey tasting demonstrations, edible insect eating contests, a live art show and food demonstration. Proceeds go to RECOFTC - The Center for People and Forests, a Bangkok-based nonprofit organization, for their current project to support food security for women in Nepal.
THE GRAND GELINAZ SHUFFLE
DATE: Nov 10
PRICE: 160-180 Euro (about B6,200-7,000) per person
The second edition of the large-scale collaboration between renowned chefs from across the globe gets even crazier this year with 40 participating culinary masters. For one night only, the world's best chefs leave their home kitchens to cook an eight-course dinner some place new. And the secret is the fun part. You’ll pay over B6,000 not knowing who’s cooking for you on the night. But it’s likely to be worth the bet as the listed names include the top culinary ranks: Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana (three Michelin stars, #1 in World’s 50 Best Restaurants), Rene Redzepi of Noma in Copenhagen (two Michelin stars, #5 in World’s 50 Best Restaurants), Virgilio Martinez of Central in Peru (#4 in World’s 50 Best Restaurants), Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco (two Michelin stars) and Yoshihiro Narisawa of Narisawa in Tokyo (two Michelin stars, #8 in World’s 50 Best Restaurants). Last year, it was Noma’s mastermind cooking in Nahm’s kitchen. And this year, three Bangkok kitchens participate. Place your bet on Bo.lan, Nahm or Gaggan and make a wish. Tickets are on sale already and may go fast.
SO AMAZING CHEFS
DATE: Nov 11-18
LOCATION: So Sofitel (2 Sathorn Rd., 02-624-0000. MRT Lumphini)
PRICES: Dinners range from B3,000-12,900
Returning for the fifth time, So Sofitel’s annual So Amazing Chefs gathers 16 pedigreed chefs from around the world for collaborative dinners this Nov 11-18. The event is led by resident chef Paul Smart, who’s joined by returning chefs including Herve Rodriguez from Masa in Paris and Stephane Bonnat of chocolaterie Bonnat in Voiron, France. New faces include Paul Liebrandt, formerly of the two-Michelin-starred Corton in New York, Thierry Drapeau of Thierry Drapeau Logis de Chabotterie in France, and Jean-Baptiste Natali of Natali in France. On top of seven dinners and two weekend brunches, the week-long event also includes six cooking classes and workshops like cheese tastings.
LA FIESTA MONITA
DATE: Nov 5
PRICE: B700
Phloen Chit’s Mexican institution La Monita has a tradition of throwing a big party to celebrate its birthday. If you haven’t been to one, you should know that this block party is one hot ticket, so be sure to secure your spot well in advance. Expect a full-blown fiesta, with a pool of the restaurant’s renowned Mexican food, accompanied with Spanish bites from the neighbor Osito, as well as lots and lots of free-flow booze.
BANGKOK GOURMET FESTIVAL
DATE: Nov 4-6, 10am-9pm
LOCATION: Royal Paragon Hall (Siam Paragon, 991/1 Rama 1 Rd. BTS Siam)
PRICE: Entry fee B200
The first Bangkok Gourmet Festival gathers Thai and international chefs, collectively owning a total of 10 Michelin stars. At the event, you’ll get to taste some bite-size flavors from 40 of Bangkok’s leading restaurants including J’aime by Jean-Michel Lorain, Ginza Sushi Ichi, Osha, Savelberg, Iron Chef Table, Rossini’s, Lenzi and Benjarong. What’s more, there’ll also be workshops by chef Alvin Leung of one-Michelin-starred Bo Innovation in Hong Kong, Curtis Duffy of three-Michelin-starred Grace in Chicago, Guillaume Galliot of The Tasting Room in Macau as well as Bangkok’s very own Henk Savelberg of Savelberg, Purida Theeraphong of Osha, Masakazu Ishibashi from Sushi Ichi and Thanunya "Gai" Wilkinson of Souffle and Me. Another highlight is the gala dinner (B9,900) by the chefs on Nov 7.
Other Visiting Chefs
Dining with the Stars
Chef Henk Savelberg gathers his chef friends from Michelin-starred restaurants in the Netherlands, including Jarno Eggen of De Groene Lantaarn, Martin Kruithof of Lindenhof, Wilco Berends of De Nederlanden and legacy like Cees Helder, the first chef in the country to acquire three Michelin stars. They will be cooking together at Savelberg on Oct 25 from 7pm. Dinner is priced at B9,900 with wine pairing.
Oriental Residence, Wireless Rd., 02-252-8001
Chef Bruno Oger at La Vie
Chef Bruno Oger of two-Michelin-starred La Villa Archange in Canne visits La Vie French restaurant at Vie Hotel on Sep 28-Oct 1. His set dinners are priced at B6,000-8,000.
11/F, Vie Hotel, 117/39-40 Phaya Thai Rd., 02-309-3939
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