Part of the problem that come with my self-imposed exile from Thailand is that I don't get to see my friends. One of my favorite chefs left Hong Kong more than two years ago to pursue new opportunities in Bangkok, and I haven't seen him since. Now that I was finally in town, there was no way I was gonna leave without catching up with him.
Fortunately, I ran into Chef Vincent Thierry at the
awards ceremony for Asia's 50 Best Restaurants yesterday. We finally got a chance to catch up, and I got a download about what he's been up to since his arrival. He seemed really happy, and I was happy for him. We made plans to pay him a visit this afternoon.
Shortly after 5pm, I walked the short distance from W Bangkok to the (significantly) shorter of the two towers that make up the
MahaNakorn CUBE, and headed to the
Vogue Lounge on the roof. This is one of the handful of
Condé Nast International Restaurants dotting the globe, and the very first of a number of outlets that Vincent will be in charge of.
The menu looked absolutely beautiful - just like the pages of
Vogue. Vogue Lounge is meant to be a stylish place for people to have a few drinks and some nibbles, and the interior of the space is certainly very pretty... so the menu matches the decor perfectly.
Mixologist Saito Hideyuki picked a different drink for each of us, and I found myself with a
Nightcap Daiquiri. HaoKouFu joked that this was indeed right up my alley, what with vanilla-flavored rum and lavender and all... Yup, I get the girlie drink today without even having to order one.
Vincent also made sure we got a few nibbles. The items on the menu are little bites made to be taken with one's hands, which are perfect for a lounge setting.
Smoked tuna tartar rolls - Vincent explained that the roll was just a delivery method for the tuna tartare, which was wrapped around a piece of Japanese pickled radish (沢庵), enclosed in seaweed (のり), topped with a piece of rice crispies along with some flying fish roe (飛子) and balsamic caviar.
King crab chawanmushi, sea urchin - Japanese steamed egg custard (茶碗蒸し) sits inside these golden egg shells, with sea urchin
espuma on top. A chunk of Alaskan king crab completes the dish. Very yum.
Black truffle gyoza - these were pretty full-flavored, and nice with the fragrance of black truffle.
The Great One and I really miss Vincent, and were really glad to finally have the chance to see him and check out the Vogue Lounge. It looks like a great place for the hip and beautiful crowd to come for drinks and snacks, and the food's pretty tasty, too. I can't wait to see what other ventures he will be helping to launch in Thailand.
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