A TASTE OF THE BEST

Spotlighting the best of Asia, the Tatler Best initiative celebrated the region's exceptional dining and drinking culture with a five-day takeover in Bangkok

- Fontaine Cheng

The Tatler Best of Asia Takeover Series recently transformed Bangkok into a hub for culinary and cocktail-making creativity. From November 22 to 26, the series, in partnership with Mastercard's priceless.​com, featured 50 exclusive events headlined by Asia's top chefs and bartenders to showcase the region's gastronomic diversity.

The event was part of the celebrations for the Tatler Best awards, at which the list of the top 100 restaurants, bars and hotels in Asia was unveiled.

Sean Fitzpatrick, chief experience officer of Tatler Asia, explained, "The Tatler Best of Asia Takeover Series is a way for us to extend the excitement of the Tatler Best awards through experiences.

We knew that many chefs and mixologists would be joining us in Bangkok for the ceremonies, so we wanted to make the most of their time and create special pop-ups all around the city so that anyone who happened to be in Bangkok during the event would be able to enjoy these amazing talents." The series saw some of Asia's most celebrated chefs come together in Bangkok's premier venues. One of the dining events, for example, featured Julien Royer of Singapore's Odette, who teamed up with Arnaud Dunand Sauthier at Maison Dunand for a refined French menu that married classical technique with local inspiration.

Reflecting on the experience, Royer said, "This was a great opportunity to explore a different side of Asia's culinary heritage. Chef Arnaud's cuisine, like ours, is French at heart but infused with a sense of place, which resonated deeply with what we wanted to create."