Thai street food to get special gourmet twist at Bangkok food fest

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is hoping this festival will serve as a soft power to draw more tourists, especially those interested in trying interesting Thai street food. Deputy TAT governor Apichai Chatchalermkit said told the press on Monday that the festival aims to showcase Thailand’s “amazing” cuisine, especially delicacies peculiar to different provinces and communities.

He said he hopes this festival will encourage foreign travellers to explore the delicacies on offer in different parts of the country.

He added that the CentralWorld festival will be divided into four key activities, namely:

• Creative cooking: Here visitors can watch cooking demonstrations

• Chef’s Table: Well-known foreign chefs will serve up their distinctive creations. The chefs include Jacob Jan Boerma, David Gil Rovira, Alejandro Huertas, Ruben Arnanz, Riley Sanders, SAITO, Rick Dingen, Nelson Chantrawan, and Thailand’s Chumpol Jangprai

• Street food: The invited chefs will create their own versions of Thai street food

• Fine-dining workshop: Visitors can pick up tips on cooking gourmet dishes.

The fair, meanwhile, will be divided into five zones:

• International: Restaurants serving up delights in this zone include Duc de Praslin, the Chilryang Korean Restaurant and Pottery Shop, Hainan Chicken Rice Restaurant, Maison Eric Kayser, Pizzeria I Masanielli di Francesco Martucci and Bissou French restaurant among others.

• Michelin Guide: This zone will highlight food from several Michelin-starred restaurants, including R-Haan, PenLaos, Chim by Siam Wisdom and 26 Braised Beef Yih Sahp Luhk.

• Outstanding restaurants: This zone will showcase restaurants from different parts of Thailand including Prem Phuket, Papa Tofu, Table Tales Koh Mak, Arun Thai Cuisine by See Fah, The Gardener Khaoyai, Sea Bangkok, Namba Shabu to name a few.

• Street food: This zone has all the favourites like Por Satay, Barbecue Pork by Uncle Uan from Silom, Chai’s grilled squid, Je Kaek’s khanom khrok (griddle cakes) and Pinn Chinese Street Food.

• Café: Coffee lovers can find their perfect cup of java from cafes like ANA Cuisine, Hai Coffee Roaster, Roots Coffee Roaster and Roaster Runner.

Adding to all the culinary fun will be musical performances by well-known artists and bands like Palmy, Yes’sir Days, Klear, Getsunova and Paradox.

The Bangkok International Food Festival runs from Friday to next Tuesday from 3pm to 10pm.