Chiang Mai, Thailand, August 8, 2022 / TRAVELINDEX / Chiang Mai’s newest five-star hotel has unveiled an intimate fine-dining restaurant serving contemporary Northern Thai dishes with Mediterranean influences accompanied by spectacular vistas and a compelling design that references the city’s rich culture.
Meliá Chiang Mai, on Charoen Prathet Road in the heart of Chiang Mai, has opened its signature restaurant Mai Restaurant & Bar on the hotel’s 21st floor with panoramic views of the city and famed Doi Suthep Temple on the mountaintop to the west.
Adjacent to the hotel’s executive lounge and tucked under the highest rooftop bar in the city, the 38-seat restaurant is a visual marvel. Diners enter the venue under an arch that pays homage to a nearby temple. In a salute to Chiang Mai’s Bo Sang Umbrella Village, large lit installations of umbrella ribs cling to the ceiling. Various artworks of umbrella canopies hang on the walls, such as those made from antique Chiang Mai textiles. The carpet’s concentric patterns, in the likes of gun-metal gray, periwinkle and soft amber hues, reference umbrella tops in a striking yet subdued way.
“Given there are so many local restaurants in our vicinity that offer a great bowl of food, we knew from the outset that Mai Restaurant & Bar needed to be different with not just an aesthetically pleasing environment and a great view but also with one-of-a-kind dishes,” said the hotel’s general manager Edward E. Snoeks.
“The menu celebrates traditional Lanna cuisine in a contemporary fashion with Mediterranean touches, each dish is so distinctive due to profound combinations of ingredients and textures, and the ‘360° Cuisine’ program promotes healthy and sustainable eating based on ‘farm to plate’ and ‘plate to farm’ processes.”
Under the stewardship of award-winning executive chef Suksant Chutinthratip (Billy) and sous chef Karn Phojun, each dish from the restaurant’s seasonal menu is prepared à la minute from an open kitchen.
The recommended ‘Mai’s Samplers’ (THB 390++/USD 10.80++) comprises tasting size portions of five different delicacies:
- Crisp fried fluffy catfish and pomelo salad scented with rice field crab jus
- Vietnamese sausage and edible flowers salad roll with yellow chili puree
- Grilled green chili relish on crispy salmon skin
- Northern Thai-style pork sausage with grilled ginger and pickled cucumber
- Warm spicy tomato relish in golden-fried tortilla
Main dishes ‘Pappardelle Soi Neur’ (THB 350++/USD 9.70++), featuring fresh homemade pappardelle with creamy khao soi curry sauce and slices of seared Australian sirloin, served with homemade pickled vegetables and chili oil, and ‘Pla Salmon Nham Prik Oung’ (THB 550++/USD 15.20++), a baked salmon fillet with northern Thai-style tomato confit, sautéed gurmar leaves and pickled garlic served upon steamed pandan rice, are also recommended dishes.
Of the 28 vegetarian, vegan, meat and seafood menu options, 12 belong to the hotel’s ‘360° Cuisine’ concept, which has been designed to minimise waste and carbon emissions. Under the program, the chefs craft dishes using produce from the hotel’s nearby organic gourmet farm partnership with ORI9IN, and use every part of each ingredient possible before leftovers are returned to the farm as compost.
With 28 years of hospitality experience, Chef Billy was previously the executive chef at some of Bangkok’s top hotels. Chef Billy began his hospitality career in 1994 as a cook helper and climbed the career ladder at various hotels in Thailand as well at Lotus One in Dubai and Raffles Singapore.
After 19 years as a chef, Chef Karn joined Meliá Chiang Mai late last year from work as a sous chef at Bangkok-based Michelin Guide restaurants Baan Suriyasai Royal Thai Restaurant and Saneh Jaan. Starting out in 1993 as chef de partie at Mahanaga Thai Fusion Restaurant, his career has taken him as far as Switzerland where he was the head chef at Michelin Guide restaurant Patara.
Mai Restaurant & Bar is open for dinner from Wednesday to Sunday from 6pm – 10pm. Dishes are priced from 190 – 850 THB++ (USD 5.25++ – 23.50++). Call +66 52 090 601
About Asset World Corp Public Company Limited
Asset World Corp Public Company Limited is a holding company under TCC Group operating leading integrated lifestyle property development in Thailand. The company has two main businesses consisting of the Hospitality business managed by top hotel executives of world-renowned hotel brands such as Marriott, The Luxury Collection, Okura, Banyan Tree, Hilton, and Sheraton and Retail, Wholesale and Commercial properties whose projects include 1) Retail and Wholesale including lifestyle travel destinations, community shopping malls, community markets, and wholesale business real estate. Popular real estate projects consist of ASIATIQUE the Riverfront Destination, Gateway at Bangsue, AEC Trade Center – Pantip Wholesale Destination, and Tawanna Bangkapi and 2) Commercial buildings including the famous Empire Tower and Athenee Tower located in Bangkok’s central business district.
About Meliá Hotels & Resorts
Meliá Hotels & Resorts is the best-known international brand in the portfolio of the Meliá Hotels International company; it has more than 100 city and resort hotels in the main leisure and business destinations of Europe, Asia, Africa and America. The brand offers exemplary meetings and events facilities in all important business cities as well as in exotic locations, catering to the ever-expanding conference and incentive travel market. As part of its innovation philosophy and new positioning, Meliá Hotels & Resorts has reinvented itself to cater to every aspect of the guests’ wellbeing. Unique experiences are created for guests and are defined by relaxation, quality time and personalised services. For a balanced lifestyle, Meliá Hotels & Resorts instinctively understands the guests’ needs and lifestyle expectations, which is an integral part of its redefined identity.
About Meliá Hotels International
Founded in 1956 in Mallorca (Spain), Meliá Hotels International operates more than 380 hotels (portfolio and pipeline) throughout more than 40 countries, under the brands Gran Meliá Hotels & Resorts, Paradisus by Meliá, ME by Meliá, Meliá Hotels & Resorts, The Meliá Collection, INNSiDE by Meliá and Sol by Meliá, plus a wide portfolio of affiliated hotels under the “Affiliated by Meliá” network. The Group is one of the leading companies in resort hotels worldwide, while also leveraging its experience to consolidate the growing segment of the leisure-inspired urban market. Its commitment to responsible tourism has led the Group to become the most sustainable hotel company in Spain and Europe, according to the last S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2022 (Silver Class distinction). It also has ranked seventh in the Wall Street Journal’s list of the 100 most sustainably managed companies in the world (and the leading travel company) and is the only Spanish travel company included in the list of “Europe’s Climate Leaders 2021” by Financial Times. Meliá Hotels International is also included in the IBEX 35 Spanish stock market.
First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News