Fine dining club launched in Phuket
Andrew Parker and Brian Lunt of Absolute with Jorge De La Torre Koch at the FineWineDine launch.
Absolute Group boss Brian Lunt has been flying to Koh Samui once a month for dinner with the local dining club, and figured it was about time that Phuket had a similar deal.
It now has. FineWineDine International was launched on February 11 at Climax, atop Absolute Bangla Suites in Patong, with seven courses prepared by chef Stephan Bouwman and his crew, served up to 60 carefully chosen freeloaders – hoteliers and restaurant people and others from the chattering classes.
To lubricate the proceedings, each course came with a different wine (French, Spanish, Italian and Argentinian), supplied by Great Prestige Co and Wine & Taste.
For gourmands, here’s the menu for that night: Liver paté; salmon and prawn carpaccio; potato and spring onion soup; asparagus risotto with veal; basil-lemon granitée to clear the palate; Tajima Wagyu beef with tomato confit, mozarella Panzarotti and balsamic reduction; and orange chocolate mousse with Campari panna-cotta.
And for those who were still hungry, there were Belgian chocolate truffles to go with the tea or coffee.
First stop, the Climax restaurant, bar and, yes, swimming pool.
Restaurants are still being recruited to the scheme, the aim being to have 12, so that members can eat at a different restaurant each month. Apart from Climax, the roster now includes Plum at Cape Sienna, White Box in Kalim and Le Royale Namtok in Kathu, so venues are set for March, April and May.
A single annual membership costs B24,000 while a membership for a couple costs B36,000. The club is run by Jorge De La Torre Koch, until recently the F&B sales and marketing manager at Cape Sienna.
To learn more, see the website here. Oh yes, and note the word “International” in the club title. Wonder where that’s going to lead?
