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By Benjamin Malcolm
It is common practice for a chef to seek the freshest, most tender
meats and seafood for their creationThere are three main characters
in the success story of the House Restaurant, Tapas & Wine Bar;
three main ingredients, if you will, of the recipe that has shaped
the unique character and taste of this popular fusion-inspired restaurant
of Chiang Mai.
First and foremost, there's the owner, Hans Christensen, the Danish
exporter who found this superlative 1930's-era property just outside
Tha Phae Gate, a couple of years ago and restored it to its current
brilliant condition, a two-story candlelit house serving up a smorgasbord
of fusion delights.
An engaging man who still maintains his export business as well
as the restaurant, Hans sees to all the interior details of the
House, keeping the atmosphere at once intimate and homey, with nods
to history all around. There is much to savour here, visually and
aesthetically. Candles line the staircases and glitter in vestibules
in the stone wall that surrounds the patio. A pair of classical
guitarists strums and sends forth the unfettered sounds of their
acoustic music on the humid evening. Upstairs, the burble of families
enjoying the confines of the two private cushiony rooms (code-named
yellow and pink for their colour schemes) floats down and mixes
with the lively conversations of the main room.
It is, for sure, a romanticists' delight at the House, a place
where romance, history and of course, food, seem to combine perfectly,
setting the stage for that "special" dinner.
"What we hear was that it was actually built by a Burmese
prince, who was exiled by the British," said Christensen as
we surveyed the inside of the building one weekend evening. "He
built it and apparently his family had some problems, so they moved
on to the States."
The property was owned by some members of Chiang Mai's royal family
and then was bought by a Bangkok-based army general. The building
stood empty for some years, the only occupants being a group of
durian sellers, before Hans began renting it a year ago, to pursue
his dream of opening a restaurant. This is where the second main
character comes in, Pisan, or Bom, the well-travelled and versatile
chef and co-owner of the House.
Hans explains that fateful day when Bom, formerly of the Peninsula
Bangkok, applied for the job.
"In the beginning, we thought it was going to be a simple
concept, like Thai food or something like that and started looking
for a chef. That was pretty difficult to find a good chef,"
said Hans. "And then one day, Bomie walks into my office and
I had all these fancy cook books lying on my table and Bom just
says, 'you like this kind of food?' and I said, 'yea, I love it.'
And then he says 'Well, I can cook it.'"
That could well be the understatement of this whole story, for
the food that is produced night after night is a connoisseur's dream
of form and taste. On the night of my visit, I was treated to a
banquet, a multitude of dishes that display the range of Bom's expertise.
The only sorrow I had from this experience is the lone fact that
my wife cannot join me. She is away on business in Bangkok. Bom
walked me through the dishes arrayed upon the white linen field
of the immaculate dining room.
For appetizers, there is a selection of house bread with tomato
salsa, cucumber salsa and capsicum butter spreads. Every customer
receives these as a complimentary dish with their order. The other
appetizer is a plate of prawn spring rolls on baby salad with tangerine
and sweet Thai chilli.
Two salads and three main dishes occupy the rest of the table space
and form our main course. The most intriguing and artfully arranged
salad is the soft shell spicy crab with papaya, celery, carrots
and lime dressing. Our dish has a touch of spice, just the right
amount of zing for the palate. The other salad is succulent arrangement
of mozzarella and tomato on a bed of lettuce with balsamic vinaigrette
and chilli basil oil.
Poom, the photographer and I hardly know where to start on this
exquisite selection and we sample all slowly, carefully, absorbing
the rich flavour of these dishes. The only thing missing is a taste
of the tapas menu, which comes with over a dozen selections, but
this would require another sitting.
The main dishes are a superlative trio. They include New Zealand
lamb chops, marinated in rosemary olive oil served with homemade
fried potato and cream spinach, steamed sea bass with wasabi mashed
potato and young palm hearts in a butter and roasted garlic sauce
and last but not least, king prawns in a pink peppercorn and coconut
sauce on a bed of crunchy vegetables.
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Supodcha "Joe" Swetiyaram, the general manager, the third
piece of the House's puzzle, comes up to check on us. His attention
to us is not necessarily special; it is part and parcel of the attention
paid to every customer. Hans and Joe are active all during the evening,
inviting customers in, seating them, bringing food and drinks around
and in general, checking in with the clientele that begins with
a trickle and then literally flows into the doors by mid-evening.
Some of their attention is also needed out back in the Ginger Shop
and the warehouse, where many of Hans's export items, including
an intriguing collection of Chinese antique furniture, is for sale.
Joe's specialty is the drink menu and he has put together a grand
selection for us to sample, interspersed like colourful stalagmites
among the other dishes. His mixology skills were honed overseas
and he takes obvious pride in his talent in the drink-making and
naming business, pointing out such elixirs as "Dream on Baby,"
a blend of gin, litchi, lime, pineapple and grenadine and "Forever
Young," a litchi, mint and lime concoction.
Joe is gone quickly after that. All three of these House special
"ingredients," the owner, the chef and the general manager,
are busy tonight. Word has spread quickly around Chiang Mai and
indeed wider spaces, of the magic fusion of food, history, ambience
and imaginative liquid refreshment available at the House Restaurant.
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