The Michelin-starred chef Henrik Yde-Andersen is currently guesting at Eastern Mangroves Hotel and Spa as part of Anantara Gourmet week, and his residency at the hotel’s Thai restaurant Pachaylen produced one of the most memorable meals we’ve sampled in a while.
Labelled “A Twist on Thai” – the twist being contemporary updates on traditional flavours with intriguing results, both visually and gastronomically – the four-course tasting menu (plus amuse-bouche) was packed with “theatrical deconstruction” of Thai cuisine.
The man behind six Copenhagen restaurants, including the Michelin-starred Kiin Kiin, Yde-Andersen fell in love with Thai food after a holiday in the south-east Asian country that led to a four-year stint in kitchens there.
Yde-Andersen’s enthusiasm was palpable at Pachaylen: we first spied him in the restaurant’s open kitchen, and he was soon out on the restaurant floor to serve the second course, a deceptively tamely labelled cucumber salad. The twist here was a wispy cotton candy that was dampened into nothingness by a fiery green-chilli sauce, poured over the dish by the chef himself.
While many cutting-edge chefs exude an imposing, pretentious air that can alienate regular diners, Yde-Andersen could scarcely have been more personable, particularly when he returned to our table to dole up (and explain) his “flowers of Thailand” dessert. It was an astonishing creation that, we’re told, features 29 individual ingredients, including Danish and Thai flowers (among them, orchid, rose and tulip). His pride in the dish extended to delivering it to our table personally, asking if we’ve visited Thailand, before explaining that his creation was partially inspired by the smell of jasmine flowers that hang in garlands in many taxis in Bangkok. It’s hard to do it justice in a few sentences, but the sheer amount of perfumed flavours in what (in layman’s terms) resembled a sorbet covered with petals was quite something.
• Henrik Yde-Andersen's A Twist on Thai paired menu costs Dh350 per person, and is available on April 14 and 15, from 7pm to 11pm, at Pachaylen at Anantara's Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa, Abu Dhabi. To book, call 02 656 1000. For more information, visit www.anantara.com/gourmet
