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PCEC members given “The 1 Card”
Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg welcomed everyone
to the Sunday October 3 meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club at the
Tavern by the Sea Restaurant. After the usual opening announcements, he
called on Ms. Emi Yamada and Ms. Nuntiya Harder, representatives of Central
Department Stores, to tell everyone about Central’s The 1 Card. Ms.
Yamada is the customer service manager at Central’s Head Office and Ms.
Harder is the customer service department manager at Central Festival
Pattaya Beach.
MC
Richard Silverberg introduces PCEC’s speaker for the day, Ms Emi Yamada, of
Central Department Stores.
Ms. Yamada thanked the Club for the opportunity to
present information about their The 1 Card for visitors and expatriates. She
noted that she herself is an expatriate from Japan, has been in Thailand
about 5 years and enjoys here work with Central. She said that her main
purpose in visiting the Club was to tell everyone about the new The 1 Card.
She said that previously, Central had two cards; one that could be used at
Central Department stores and other Central owned outlets and the other a
card that could be used only at Tops Supermarkets. The Central Department
store card was called The 1 Card as is the new card. But, the new card is a
“dual’ card, it can be used at the same stores as the previous card and at
Tops Supermarkets; thus eliminating the need for two separate cards.
Ms
Yamada advises the special deals available now in their many stores,
including Tops, PowerBuy, & other Central Group stores, to members of
Pattaya City Expats Club with Centrals ‘1Card’.
Asking for a show of hands, Ms. Yamada noted that it was
obvious that many already had the card. She said that Central staff was
available on the Tavern’s front porch to take applications and issue the new
The 1 Card. The card is free and for visitors and expatriates alike. For
those that already had the card, she said they could replace it with the new
dual card version; further, any reward points accumulated on the old card
would be transferred to the new one. She then went on to say that the card
could be used at several stores that have 230 different outlets in Thailand.
These stores are Central Department Stores, Robinson Department Stores, Zen
Stores, Power Buy, Super Sports, B2S Bookstores, Homeworks and Tops
Supermarkets. For those applying at the Club’s meeting, she said they were
handing out a welcome pack containing many discount coupons at various
stores along with a free leather key chain.
‘Frugal
Freddy’ Bob Sutterfield introduces a new feature for the Monday night ‘value
for money’ dinners; a twofer one dinner prize for one lucky member, at the
following Monday’s restaurant.
She continued her presentation mentioning the benefits of
membership in the program. One was getting a 5% discount at all Central
Department Stores on regularly priced merchandise and another was getting
“Reward Points” on purchase of regular and promotional priced merchandise at
the other outlets. When enough points are accumulated, they can be redeemed
for discount coupons that can be used at the different stores. She also said
that although Thais can receive the card, they do not get the 5% discount at
Central Department Stores; only foreign visitors and expats qualify for the
discount.
Reward points, she said, are earned by presenting the
card when making purchases at the participating outlets. For every 25 baht
spent at the outlets other than Power Buy, you earn one point. Since Power
Buy has more expensive products, you earn one point for every 50 baht spent
there. Reward points are earned on both regularly-priced and discounted
merchandise. She did point out that there were some restrictions on earning
points, which can be found on their website at: http://www.central.co.th/visitor/expat.html.
Also, she said you need to read the back of coupons before redeeming them as
there may be restrictions on their use at certain stores. Ms. Yamada also
wanted everyone to be aware that points expire every two years and that on
December 31 of each year, Central will void all points over two years old.
For visitors and expatriates in Pattaya, they can apply
for the card in one of three ways. You can get it at the Customer Service
Counter on the 2nd floor of Central Festival Pattaya Beach shopping center
or by visiting their website and applying online or by using the mail. In
Pattaya, she said points can be redeemed for coupons at the Customer Service
counters located on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th floors of Central Festival
Pattaya Beach. This can be done by presenting your card and your passport.
During the question and answer period, a member asked
about Office Depot as it was also part of the Central conglomerate. Ms.
Yamada said that although you could not earn reward points at Office Depot,
you could redeem points for coupons that could be used there.
Richard then updated everyone on upcoming events and
called on “Hawaii” Bob Sutterfield to conduct the always informative and
sometimes humorous Open Forum, where questions about living in Thailand and
Pattaya in particular are asked and answered.
Navy chefs duel in ‘black box’ cooking competition
Phasakorn Channgam
Chefs from three U.S. Navy ships that visited Pattaya this
month squared off in a “black box” cooking competition where they had to create
creative, appetizing dishes from mystery ingredients.
Somchart
Suwichakornpongs (left), director of the Navy League of the United States,
presents first prize to CS3 Johnson and CS2 Fulmore from the USS Cowpens.
Two teams of two chefs each from the USS George Washington
aircraft carrier and one team each from the cruiser USS Cowpens and destroyer
USS Campbell fired up the grill at the Marriott Hotel & Resort’s Garden Cafe
Oct. 4. The hotel sponsored the event with Makro Department Store and the U.S.
Embassy.
The judges
carefully make their decisions.
Each team was given a black box with food ingredients they
could not see in advance. The challenge was on, once the boxes were opened, to
create the tastiest, best-looking and most-creative sets of appetizer, main
course and dessert.
The chefs, also judged on cooking technique, slaved over the
stove to win up to 100 points in each of the four criteria. In the end, the team
from the Cowpens won 380 points with their Indian Seafood dish. Team A from the
George Washington came in 2nd with 369 points, for their Fish Quiche dish.
George Washington’s B Team and the Campbell chefs came in 3rd
and fourth respectively, with 356 and 346 points.
Geev
Bahrampoori (left) presents the USS George Washington Team A, CS3 Nabil Duane
and CSSN Timothy Beeson, with their first runner up prize.
Michelin Star chef visiting Pattaya
Dr. Iain Corness
The Amari Orchid’s Mantra restaurant kitchen staff are
getting ready to welcome a culinary expert this weekend, with Thomas
Kammeier flying in from Berlin. Thomas is the chef at the celebrated
Michelin star Hugo’s restaurant on the 14th floor of the InterContinental
Berlin, a venue which promises that “Dining becomes an event at Hugo’s.”
That being the case, I am sure that Thomas will delight us at our “events”
here at the Mantra restaurant.
Thomas
Kammeier
Thomas brings with him many recipes for his signature
dishes that will be new to the Mantra patrons, and is noted as a One-Star
Michelin chef from Hugo’s restaurant and he is also highly rated by the
independent Gault Millau organization.
Mantra will have Thomas Kammeier for a five day Gourmet
festival (October 18-22), and in conjunction with the Amari executive chef
Jens Heier, this promises to be a special time for the food and wine
enthusiasts in Pattaya. The local branch of the Cha๎ne des R๔tisseurs has
already booked its place on Tuesday 19, and it has been a sell-out. For
those who would like to work with the ‘master’, the Amari Orchid is also
running a cooking class on October 20. Places are very limited and you will
need to book.
You can contact the Amari Orchid for dinner bookings, or
a place in the cooking school through 038 429 591.
Alois Restaurant’s 2nd Wine Dinner - A Gourmet Night to Remember
By Taliesin Verity
Alois Restaurant & Wine Bar Second Wine Dinner, on October 2,
was well received by a full complement of diners, 50 in all. We had six courses
accompanied by the same number of fine wines, all carefully chosen according to
whether the dishes were fish or meat, with due consideration for price and
quality.
Diners
enjoy the delicious cuisine and perfectly matched wine.
The feast started with the Cocktail Reception, comprising
smoked salmon, crabmeat cake and cheese tartlets. The first wine was a dry South
African Chardonnay Reserve, Balance 2009. This full-bodied white wine had a
fruity taste reminiscent of pineapple, with a hint of lime, melon, apple,
nectarine and roasted almond. There wasn’t a great deal of acidity, but the
citrus zest was noticeable.
The Chardonnay goes well with fish dishes and therefore
prepared us well for the next course, baked U.S. scallops with vegetables salsa
and balsamic dressing. This was extremely succulent and was complemented by the
second white, the Wachenheimer Riesling 2008 from the famous Dr. Burklin-Wolf.
This was a wine with slightly more sweetness, but a dash of minerality and
flintiness. Yellow gold in colour, it had a floral tang with a hint of pear and
lime fruitiness. It not only accompanied the scallops well but also the next
fish dish, pan fried marinated tuna fish with pink pepper served with mushroom,
green asparagus and red wine sauce. This was a deep-coloured fish, tender once
more, with different levels of flavour that continued to taste even after being
digested.
Mine host
Vichai Priyatrakulruji and wine expert Georges Barbier.
Next came the first of the reds: the South African Phanto
Ridge Pinotage, Robertson Winery 2007; a full bodied yet light wine with a
noticeable tannin taste, supported with berries and a modicum of oak.
The peach sorbet with pistachio nuts made an exceptional
palate cleanser allowing us to really appreciate the roasted Australian beef
tenderloin served with rosemary sauce grilled vegetables and crispy carrot,
which came next. Everyone appeared to enjoy this succulent steak, judging by the
satisfied expressions and murmurs of appreciation.
Yet another red was to follow: a South Australian Shiraz
Viognier “The Y Series”, Yalumba 2008. This was slightly spicy, probably
imparted by the forest berry flavours, with a full nose.
Our penultimate palatal titillation was provided by the
gorgonzola, apricot and raisin baked in crispy fillo dough served with
balsamic-honey sauce. This was distinguished by its contrasting flavours.
The full-bodied Bardolino “Frescaripa”, Masi 2008, another
fine red, provided a necessary taste of Italy. Described as modern in style, it
was ‘very-berry’ both in taste and bouquet. And what better to accompany the
strawberry parfait with strawberry and yoghurt sauce, which produced several
sighs of contentment from the table nearest me.
Finally came the Chilean Sauvignon Blanc Late Harvest, Santa
Carolina 2007. This white wine was totally superb; an impression shared by all
in the restaurant, I observed. This delicious wine was slightly sweet, but also
crisp, with the strong tropical fruit flavours to the fore and a very satisfying
bouquet.
Alois Restaurant put on a superb presentation that night.
Frankly, I don’t know how they managed to provide so much fine food and wine for
only Bt1,900; costs were obviously cut to the bone. That our host Vichai and his
staff’s sterling efforts did not go in vain was apparent in the gratitude shown
by all the guests as they left. I think I can safely say that we, none of us,
can wait for a repetition. Well done Alois Restaurant.
The staff
was attentive, the food and wine top notch.
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