It was a packed house at the Mandarin Oriental as Bailliage members and their guests converged in the elegant dining room of the hotel’s Michelin 2-star “Le Normandie” restaurant for a multi-course dinner that has long been considered one of the annual highlights of the year for members in Bangkok.

Savoie-born Chef Arnaud Sauthier continued Le Normandie’s long history of culinary excellence with a menu that featured French classical cooking with a lighter, contemporary twist. Échanson Sariya Kampanathsanyakorn chose the wines.

RECEPTION

Beaufort and cumin cracker
Mackerel au vin blanc
Quiche Lorraine
Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve NV

MENU

“Amuse-bouches”
Grey shrimp consommé, warm sea mayonnaise
Alaskan king crab, smoked jelly and seaweed
Champagne Billecart-Salmon ‘Cuvée Nicolas François’ 2002

Sea urchin, caviar
potato foam, Champagne sauce
Chablis Grand Cru 'Bougros' 2018
Domaine Patrick Piuze

Line-caught alfonsino, bouillabaisse, aioli
Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
‘Les Chaumées Clos Saint-Abdon’ 2017
Domaine Philippe Colin

Cour d’Armoise* free range chicken
onion, truffle
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru ‘Clos du Fonteny’ 2007
Domaine Serafin Père et Fils

Selection of cheeses from the Alps
Niepoort Ruby Port

Le Normandie-style Tarte Tatin
crème fraîche ice-cream, sable
Calvados

Among the many notable innovations, the traditional pairing of grey shrimps with mayonnaise was updated into a consommé as an amuse-bouche. The combination of caviar with potato was transformed into a foam topped with sea urchin. To end the night, the “everyday” apple tart received a glamorous makeover via a dollop of crème fraîche ice-cream paired with glasses of Calvados.

Chawadee Nualkhair
Chargée de Presse

* Ed. At his Cour d’Armoise farm near Le Mans in the Sarthe department of France, Pascal Cosnet raises poultry from old breeds. They are reared outdoors in fields. Feeding is supplemented by cereals produced on the farm. To this diet Cosnet adds essential oils and wild plants depending on the season. This gives the flesh a distinctive “organic” flavour much prized by Chefs and gastronomes.