Great Expectations
Author: Carolyn Koenig
November 2008
Chef's Table
Say hello to Kim Thai, executive chef at The Sutton Place Hotel in Vancouver, B.C., who meets that challenge superbly. The Saigon native is a resounding success story. He began his culinary career in Vancouver in 1983, becoming a protégé of La Palette and The Prow, two of the city’s historical gastronomic landmarks. He later moved to Le Meridien Vancouver (Sutton Place’s former name), where he worked his way up in the kitchen under master chefs to become the top toque—and the first Asian executive chef in North America at a Five Diamond-rated hotel.
“When I first got to Canada, I never thought of becoming a chef,” Thai says. “When I was young [in Vietnam], I
went shopping with my mom to the market, which had many fresh foods. One day I was shopping with my sister [here], and it reminded me of my childhood.”
“Fresh” was the spark then, and now, in his notable French cuisine, to which he imparts his own personal flair. “I love French cuisine; it’s tasty and looks so great,” he says. In fact, he says, his whole team’s background is French, but each member has his own unique touch: “Me, a spicy Asian flair; my restaurant chef, more trendy and modern; my banquet chef, more Mediterranean.”
Fresh foods—and a healthy dose of inspiration—play a significant role in the menu Chef Thai has created for Smart Meetings readers. “It’s my style to use fresh local products as much as possible,” he says. “Up here, there’s a great variety of fish. Sable fish is a local product; prawns are a local product, too.”
The first course features three crab appetizers, including, he says, “one of our signature dishes, a crab cake with mango salsa.” The entrée was inspired by a dish he created at home, when “there wasn’t much in the kitchen, except a piece of fish, onions, garlic, ginger and a half-bottle of sake. I tried it out; it was easy to prepare and very refreshing.” The dessert is a chocolate sampler. Why chocolate? Everybody likes chocolate, he says. Plus, as the appetizer and main course are light, “it’s nice to finish with nice, rich chocolate,” he says.
And if you would like to present this menu as a really special dinner for your group, try ending it with another delicious local product: Poplar Grove Tiger Blue cheese, served with micro greens and a vanilla white balsamic reduction, and paired with a 1987 Fonseca vintage port. Key to a wonderful dining experience, Thai believes, is for planners to be open to suggestions from the chef. Often, he says, planners come in with a preconceived idea of a menu, because it’s safe. Trust the chef, and “you’ll be able to present a great new offering to your group.”
Taking this introduction forward, look for a new cookbook out early next year — Chefs of The Sutton Place Hotels—in which Thai and the executive chefs from the three other Sutton Place Hotels (Chicago, Edmonton and Toronto) share their signature recipes.
