For gourmets on vacation

Hua Hin has the sea breezes, beautiful beaches, great music and even live theatre. Now, Proudputh Liptapanlop has set out to make it a destination for fine dining as well.
 Proud, as she’s better known, is the daughter of seasoned politician Suwat. An Oxford University and London Business School graduate in economics and management, she’s the managing director of Proud Resort Hua Hin, a family business that runs the InterContinental Hua Hin and other properties.
After Oxford, where she attended St Hugh’s College, the alma mater of Aung San Suu Kyi, and London Business School, Proud spent two years at the management-consulting firm McKinsey. “I wanted to gain experience outside the family business. I worked my way up from the bottom.”
 Having made coffee for the boss, Proud at 24 now manages the InterContinental Hua Hin, and her father has been making full use of her talent with personnel since she joined last February. “I learned how to treat people,” she says.
Among the many ideas Proud is pushing is getting Hua Hin on the international culinary map. If it means breaking with custom, so be it, as was the case last month when she organised a charity wine dinner prepared by a chef with Michelin-star credits.
The feast of sophisticated dishes that can’t even be found in Bangkok ensured that gourmets could add Hua Hin to their list of places where fine dining is available. Bangkok, Samui and Phuket are no longer alone on that list.
“As a business developer I have my own vision of the hotel and Hua Hin. Hua Hin is everyone’s favourite destination – it was for a century a royal retreat – but it’s not as well known for fine dining as Phuket and Samui,” says Proud.
“Hua Hin has big-name tennis, beach volleyball and music festivals. It’s long been associated with sports – but not food.”
The charity dinner, held in her hotel’s 1920s-style beachfront villa La Residence Hua Hin, was a sell-out, raising more than Bt1 million for the HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Foundation. 
Flying Rasmus Kofoed over from Denmark to cook was an inspiration, with the credit shared with the Thai ambassador to Denmark. Kofoed, the chef at the Michelin-star restaurant Geranium in Copenhagen, had earlier prepared a banquet that the Thai envoy had attended at the Thai Embassy there. The envoy recommended him to Suwat, an acquaintance, and culinary diplomacy achieved a breakthrough.
Kofoed was dubbed the world’s best chef last year after winning the gold medal at the Bocuse d’Or, Europe’s most prestigious cooking competition.
For the Hua Hin event he whipped up Scandinavian-influenced specialities from imported and local ingredients, light and served in small portions.
Norwegian lobster met Thai crab and herbs from the Royal Project in the North. The Danish ingredients included ham, cheese, veal, liquorice and lojrom, a salmon roe.
“I want to demonstrate modern Danish cooking,” Kofoed said. “In Denmark we grow up with these kinds of ingredients, which are bio-dynamic – they stay true to their surroundings.”
Crab, leeks, lojrom and creme, with the crab caught locally, was particularly delicious and not overly creamy. It went well with a fruity 2010 Sauvignon/Semillon from Australia’s Leeuwin Estate, which boasts the aroma of green apples.
Norwegian langoustine with celeriac, pickled elderberries and flowers was a little sour and quite
salty, typical of much Scandinavian seafood dishes.
Kofoed’s simple but succulent signature dish elements of onions, with soup of melted Danish
cheese, was fabulous with some of those bio-dynamic ingredients. It was ably partnered with slightly
sweet and spicy Gewurztraminer 2010 from Leon Beyer in Alsace, France. 
We also got to savour the dish that won the Bocuse d’Or – veal with aroma of hay and beetroots, paired with 2009 Pinot Noir Nautilus from New Zealand. He actually served the veal alongside a platter of smoky hay, a presentation designed to get you thinking of the Danish countryside.
Everyone enjoyed the sumptuous liquorice and red berries, washed down with 2010 Muscat de Beaumes de Venises from Domaine des Bernardins in France.
“All the dishes are light and healthy,” Kofoed promised. “Even the main course doesn’t feel heavy.”
Proud noted that the meal was meant to stimulate the five senses.
It must have worked, because, as she pointed out, “Everyone finished every dish!”
“I believe they especially loved the herbs picked from the Royal Project farms by the chef.”
Fully 80 percent of the guests made the trek from Bangkok for the occasion, she said. “People from
Bangkok love to spend the weekend in Hua Hin anyway. If they spend Bt6,000 or Bt7,000 for a room here and get a special dinner like this – no need to fly to Denmark – I think it’s worth it!”
Asked if it was worth it to her, putting so much effort into the worryingly complex details, Proud said,
“It’s just part of the bigger picture of my job, which is pushing for Hua Hin to be internationally known for fine dining.
“Certainly there are more dinners like this to come.”