Media release 15 July 2008

Ten days till the Thai Fruit and Flower Festival opens at The Auckland Show Grounds

With only ten days to go, things are hotting up at the Thai Fruit and Flower Festival offices. We are getting ready to receive a ton each of mangoes, mangosteen and longan. We already have the lychees on hand and the 40,000 stalks of orchids land on the 24th July.

The team from Thailand arrive on the morning of the 24th to begin building the four Pavillions in Hall 3 at the Auckland Show Grounds and chefs from Cibo and Rice, Thai Village in Remuera and Zap 2 in Dominion Road are all set to cook up a storm in the Fisher and Pykel Show Kitchen throughout the two days.

Kate Fay requires little introduction. Leading the kitchen at The French Café prior to assuming the helm of the equally iconic Cibo and sister dining room Rice, Kate has been using Asian flavours in her food from the early nineties. She is well known for successfully combining the exotic tastes and cooking methods inspired by her endless explorations of Asia with the best of New Zealand ingredients.

The Thai Village was the first Thai restaurant in Remuera when it was established on 29 March 1996. The restaurant is owned and operated by husband and wife team Thidarat and Savang Kumjumpol, who hail from Thailand with extensive experience in the Thai hospitality industry. Chef Savang brings over thirty years cooking experience to the table and will demonstrate his very special Kai Ob Pu Kao Fai , NZ's original baked whole chicken marinated with Thai herbs flamebed in brandy, served with sweet chilli sauce, as well as three other dishes.

Chef Kiat Chomkhunthod is one of the many experienced chefs at Zap2. She spent 5 years cooking in the family business in North East Thailand prior to coming to New Zealand in 1996. After 12 years with the restaurant she is now based at Zap2 Thai Café & Bar. If one needed to single out her signature dish, Chef Kiat’s Larb Gai is one of the best you will taste in any Thai restaurant anywhere.

To wash it all down, the Suite Bar owner David Hawk and mixologist Tim Etherington-Judge show us how to make the very best cocktails from mangoes, mangosteens, lychees and longans. 2007 Lewisham Awards Outstanding Personality David Hawk runs some of Auckland’s best watering holes. Crowe Bar has been propping up the city’s late night offering for more than a decade and Suite Bar serves drinks till dawn.

The Thai Fruit and Flower Festival will run from 10.30am - 4pm, Saturday 26th July and Sunday 27th July 2008 in Hall 3 at The Auckland Showgrounds in Greenlane. Admission to the festival is free to the public and visitors will be able to enjoy access not only to the lavish displays and festival programme but also to the accompanying weekend market as well as food stalls.

ENDS

About the Festival

The two day Thai Fruit and Flower Festival opens it’s doors to the public at 11 am on Saturday 26th July 2008 at The Auckland Show Grounds. Inspired by the Office of Agricultural Affairs of the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives and held at The Auckland Showgrounds, the festival promises to be one of the best ways to spend the weekend of the 26th – 27th July.

The festival will offer a selection of tropical fruit to sample and for purchase as well as in excess of 40,000 stalks of Thai orchids flown in especially for the occasion. The Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives has also commissioned and imported four ornate, handmade wooden Thai Pavillions to house lei making and vegetable carving demonstrations which will take place through out the duration of the festival. The cultural programme over the course of the two days will include Thai dance performances, music and food demonstrations by local Auckland chefs.

Admission to the festival is free to the public and visitors will be able to enjoy access not only to the lavish displays and festival programme but also to the accompanying weekend market as well as food stalls.

The Thai Fruit and Flower Festival will run from 10.30am - 4pm, Saturday 26th July and Sunday 27th July 2008 in Hall 3 at The Auckland Showgrounds in Greenlane.

www.thaifruitandflowerfestival2008.co.nz

About Thai Village

The Thai Village was the first Thai restaurant in Remuera when it was established on 29 March 1996. The restaurant is owned and operated by husband and wife team Thidarat and Savang Kumjumpol, who hail from Thailand with extensive experience in the Thai hospitality industry. Thidarat and Savang set up their restuarant in Remuera because it felt tranquile and had that feeling of success about it.

As a head chef at Thai Village, Savang always makes sure that the food prepared by his chefs meets the restaurant standard before being delivered to customers. Popular dishes include Gai Ob Pu Kao Fai(NZ's original baked whole chicken marinated with Thai herbs flamebed in brandy, served with sweet chilli sauce), Kaeng Kiew Wan(Green curry of chicken, beef or pork with coconut milk ) and Nua Thai Village (Sliced beef sirloin sautéed in delicious oriental sauce served with steamed vegetables)

Thai Village Restaurant
10/415 Remuera Rd,
Remuera, Auckland.
Ph (09) 523 3005
Lunch 12.00 - 3.00pm, Mon - Fri
Dinner 7 nights 6pm – late

http://www.eatout.co.nz/thai-village-restaurant.html

About Zap2 and Zap4

Zap Restaurants opened their first outlet in 1996 in the Food Court in Albert Street, Auckland CBD. Their second and current outlet, Zap2 Thai Café & Bar, opened in Balmoral in 1999. Their second restaurant Zap4 Esan Thai Cuisine in Commerce St retains the very successful food court format with all the comforts of a stand alone restaurant. Customers of both outlets continue to enjoy Thai food cooked to the highest standard at a very reasonable price.

Whilst both outlets have an extensive range of North-East Thai dishes, a full range of all the most popular meals is available. Both outlets are also fully licensed, with the BYO Wine at Zap2 being a very popular choice with the customers. The Staff in the kitchen are mostly close family of Payao, ably supported at the front of house by Thai students which combine to give a very family type atmosphere at both Zap2 and Zap4.

Zap2
639 Dominion Rd
Balmoral,Auckland
Ph (09) 638 6393
Dinner 7 nights 6pm - 10pm

Zap4
6 Commerce Street
CBD, Auckland
Ph (09) 379 5902
Open 7 days 11am –9pm

www.zapthai.co.nz

About Suite Bar

This is what Metro Magazine says about Suite - underground and downtown, this long narrow room with a bar has downbeat DJ’s Wednesday through Saturday, food till 4am, award winning bar staff, indie NZ beers, a smart wine list and some very Moorish cocktails. Very cool, oftern very crowded

Cnr Hobson & Wolfe Sts
Auckland City
Ph (09) 3077030
Tue-Fri 3pm - 5am
Sat 8pm - 5am

www.suitebar.co.nz

About Cibo and Rice

Nestled away in an old chocolate factory is one of Auckland's best keep secrets. Cibo is an establishment that has consistently proven to be one of Auckland's top restaurants.

Since 1994 Cibo has been one of the favourite haunts for those "in the know". Cibo has been moulded by a scrupulous hand, creating an atmosphere of splendour to be enjoyed by all. Unobtrusive professionalism from waiting staff take their lead from Maitre d' Jeremy Turner. Cibo offers alfresco dining in the private courtyard during the balmy summer. Life's troubles melt away when enveloped in the atmosphere of unadulterated pleasure and relaxation.

The award-winning kitchen is presided over by the indomitable Kate Fay. Seasonal availability of produce necessitates regular revision of the menu, however familiarity is usually only a mouthful away. A menu for the pleasure of the palate based on the taste of the ingredients not the whims of the trend magazines allows the blending of exotic and familiar produce in such a fashion as to hint at a home-cooked meal

For those of you who’ve never beheld the Rice experience before, they are a stylish, fun and well established little restaurant and bar in “the ghetto” of Auckland’s CBD. They are known for their diversity (smart business lunches, luxurious dinners, after - or during -work drinks, private functions), their retro-chic interior and steady stream of excellent reviews. Rice is run by co-owners and mentors Jeremy Turner and Kate Fay of Cibo.

ENDS

© Scoop Media