Holiday TimeBangkok Post

Read more news at bangkokpost.com Monday, deceMbeR 25, 2017

HOLIDAY TIMES ONLINE @ https://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/ social-and-lifestyle/1372175/holiday-time-2017

Saffron, Spice, and Everything NiceRing in the New Year with Thai delicacies high above Bangkok

Andrew Fowler

For years now, Saffron, located on the 52nd floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel in the heart of the Sathorn business district, has been a leader among high-end Thai restaurants. Taking its name from the luxurious spice, the restaurant has proven itself to be innovative and forward-think-ing, while at the same time honoring Thai traditions. The cuisine is emphatically not fusion, but rather a progressive interpreta-tion of classic dishes.

Head chef Renu Homsombat is the brain behind Saffron, including its numerous international outposts at overseas Banyan Tree locations. Talking with her for just a few minutes reveals a passionate love of Thai ingredients. She pointed out that she sources her supplies of som sa, a highly aromatic bitter orange, direct from farmers in Ratchaburi, and she informed me that the taste of lemongrass varies widely from locale to locale. And this commitment to detail and locality, with a strong focus on locally sourced ingredients and immaculate plating, shines through in the cuisine.

This New Years Eve, Saffron will be cel-ebrating with a set menu, priced at B6,800 net per person, or Baht 8,600 net with wine pairings, highlighting some of the best the restaurant has to offer.

Dinner starts with the Chefs Signature Appetizers, three bite-sized pieces served on spoons. To start, there is a light crab spring roll, with just enough meatiness in it from the crab meat to give it some bite. This is followed by a piece of grilled foie gras with an almost salsa-like mango topping, and a deliciously complex piece of roast duck with an Isan style jim jaew, in which the fiery Isan spice is balanced enough to not overwhelm the flavorful duck meat. This is followed by Yam Hoi Shell, Hok-kaido scallops piled high with cilantro, the aforementioned som sa, and an abundance of edible flowers, and with plenty of chili spice to match the dense scallops.

Following the appetizers and salad, diners are greeted with the soup, a tom yam kung. In keeping with Saffrons ethos,

its a dish that gives a nod to the past while looking towards the future. Lightly cooked pieces of river prawn are surrounded with a roast coconut foam and a smoky roasted chili powder, before a clear tom yam broth is poured into the bowl. The result is some-thing that is neither a creamy nor a clear tom yam, but somewhere in between the best of both worlds.

Next comes the ultimate Northern Thai classic, khao soi, but this time featuring salmon in lieu of the usual chicken, and thin, delicate Phuket noodles, garnished with fresh salmon roe and a prawn cracker filled with pickled cabbage. For a quick breather between courses, a sorbet is offered to cleanse the palate, made with passionfruit and som sa, served in an ice cup to keep it cold.

The centerpiece of the meal is beef slow-cooked for four hours with longan, all sweet and spicy and melt-in-your-mouth tender. Alongside the main to soak up the rich, reduced longan sauce, diners are offered

a selection of four styles of rice: a clas-sic jasmine, healthy brown rice, a hearty mountain rice, and the house specialty, saffron rice.

Finally, for a dessert plate, refreshing pieces of fresh mango are followed by kluay buat chee ice cream a frozen reimagin-ing of the old-school Thai dessert featuring boiled bananas floating in coconut milk and a roselle jelly topped with lychee foam and lychee ice cream.

Saffrons signature cocktails make an ideal pairing, blending premium spirits with Thai flavors. Top choices include As the Wind Blows (vodka, Martini Bianco, kiwi puree, lime, kaffir lime, and soda) for something fruity, the Eastern Ginger (gin, Martini Rosso, roselle, lime, grape-fruit juice, and ginger) for something more spirit-forward, and the Garden Collins (gin, Chartreuse, lime juice, syrup, and soda) for a unique refresher.

Even if you cant make it for dinner this New Years Eve, there has never been a better time to visit Saffron. You can sample

Saffrons greatest hits, such as salmon salad, beef massaman curry, and gaeng kati puu, a much-loved red curry with crab meat, anytime you like.

Also, for a pre-dinner aperitif, an after-dinner digestif, or simply a few drinks with friends, check out the brand-new Saf-fron Sky Garden, featuring signature cock-tails, craft beers, and a menu of tapas-style modern Thai street food now occupies the outdoor deck just outside the main restau-rant, with stunning river views on one side, ideal for a sundowner, and a panoramic city view on the other side, the perfect match for a night out. Saffron Sky Garden is also going to be hosting its own New Years bash, with an unlimited drinks package priced at Baht 4,900 net per person, and a disco vibe to carry you into 2018.

BAnYAn Tree BAnGKoK 21/100 South Sathorn road. Tel. 02 679 1200 e-mail: hostesses-bangkok@banyantree.com. www.banyantree.com.

2 I HOLIDAY TIME Bangkok Post I Monday, deceMber 25, 2017

Lezlie Harrison returns to Jazz-up

Christmas and New Year Celebrations

A unique healing experience at The Peninsula Spa promotes a deeper state of mental relaxation and reaps the benefits of

mind and body harmony

Achieve inner peace and tranquility with

Experience the holistic benefits of The Essential Mind, an immersive wellness programme designed to combat the stresses and anxieties of urban living, improve mental serenity and pro-mote the ultimate synthesis of body and mind.

Created by Dr. Buathon Thienarrom, founder of the Sukkasart Institute of Heal-ing Arts in Hua Hin, The Essential Mind integrates the meditative benefits of ther-apeutic touch, bespoke blend essential oils and vibrational sound. This tranquil healing programme is designed to meet the needs of busy people who struggle to find enough time to unwind, clear their minds and find mental repose amid the hectic swirl of modern life.

Famous for her work with celebrities, Dr Buathon Thienarrom, (Dr B) is a cele-brated Thai holistic practitioner with exten-sive knowledge of Tibetan and alternative medicine as well as Taoist practice.

The Essential Mind healing programme enhances the balance of body and mind through the essence of Thailand. A gentle Healing Touch massage uses therapeutic essential extracts from indigenous Thai herbs and flowers to soothe tension in the muscles, encourage lymphatic drainage and stimulate the bodys natural energy flows. The result is greater clarity of mind and enhanced powers of concentration.

Small drops of the exclusively formu-lated oils are placed along the spine in three different layers: an invigorating blend of basil and peppermint oil to relieve muscle tension; kaffir lime and jasmine oil to open

energy channels, relieve stress and anx-iety and strengthen the natural immune system; cinnamon and clove oil relaxes the mind.

The healing journey is completed with a vibrational sound therapy. Seven chakras singing bowls help the body and mind become one, as each bowl creates a pure note that heals a specific chakra.

THE PENINSULA SPA The Peninsula Bangkok. 333 Charoennakorn Road. Tel. 020 2888. Email: spapbk@peninsula.com. www.peninsula.com/bangkok.

The Essential Mind

AT THE RAIN TREE CAF

A BRIGHTER FUTURE BEGINS WITH NEW YEARS DAY BRUNCH

Get the New Year off to a thoroughly appetizing start with a New Years Day Brunch feast for all the senses at The Rain Tree Caf, The Athenee Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, on Monday 1 January 2018.

Savour special dishes you rarely see and share them with your close associates or family. You will certainly love all the live stations and passionately prepped delica-cies from around the world.

Baht 2,888++ incl soft drinks and juicesBaht 4,888++ incl sparkling wine, house

wines, cocktails, beer, soft drinks and juicesBaht 15,888++ incl 1 bottle of Dom

Perignon and free flow of Sparkling wine, house wines, cocktails, beer, soft drinks and juices.

Children 4-12 Years Baht 1,444++.All including drinking water.Served: 12pm3pm.SPG and Le Club Plaza membership

benefits apply.

THE RAIN TREE CAF Ground Floor. The Athenee Hotel A Luxury Collection Hotel. 61 Wireless Road. Tel. 02 650 8800. Email: fb.theathenee@luxurycollection.com or visit website: www.theatheneehotel.com and theluxurycollection.com/theatheneehotel.

Following her much praised January performance, Lezlie returns to The Living Room from December 14 31, 2017 to jazz-up your Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Lezlies repertoire is deeply influenced by the soul music of her formative years in Harlem and the gospel music she sang as a child in church. Today she is regarded as one of New York Citys finest jazz vocalists, but still draws deeply on her soul roots of Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, Sly Stone, and Johnny Hartman. With her burnished, soulful alto voice, striking beauty and dis-tinctive blend of jazz, classic 70s soul, and her own compositions, Lezlie is a fixture on the New York jazz scene and has performed with luminaries such as Roy Hargrove, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Johnny ONeal and Grady Tate. She also opened for Cassandra Wilson at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival.

Whenever Lezlie performs, she receives high praise from critics and jazz aficio-nados. Broadway director, Count Stoval said of her, Lezlie is enthralling, beauti-ful, soulful, stylish, warm and wonderful and irresistibly talented. To hear her sing or to see her perform is to love her and to be transported back to Vaughn, Simone, Holiday