137 Pillars Hotels & Resorts will launch their Signature Afternoon Tea in Bangkok from 13-16 April. The signature desserts menu has been designed by creative Legendary Michelin Star Pastry Chef Roger van Damme from Belgium who will be personally presenting his exquisite menu during the launch period. Following the launch, the signature menu will be available at weekends at 137 Pillars Suites & Residences Bangkok and will also be served daily at sister property 137 Pillars House Chiang Mai as an additional option to their traditional afternoon tea.
For those wanting to meet Chef Roger and enjoy his afternoon tea from 13-16 April, the event will be held in the Hotel Lobby Lounge at 137 Pillars Suites & Residences at No 38, Soi Sukhumvit 39, from 3.00-5.30pm daily. The menu is priced at THB1,370 (USD 40.00 approx) per person for a set of the 137 Pillars Signature Afternoon Tea and 137 Pillars organic tea and coffee collection. For those wanting a glass of champagne, the price is THB1,890 per person. The wine list is also available for those wanting a bottle of champagne or wine to accompany – with champagne being sabered in colonial style with a ceremonial sword. Prices are subject to applicable service charge and government taxes.
Afternoon tea guests can arrive in style in ‘Louie the London Cab’ which has been fully customized for the hotel, with scheduled pick up times from Promprong Bangkok Sky Train (BTS) Station/Emquartier Shopping area. To further enhance this elegant afternoon tea experience, live jazz and classical music will be performed by a local duo.
Menu highlights from Chef Roger’s signature menu include:
Pomme Pomme – a classic apple pie made of puff pastry with frangipane and Pink Lady apples, served with vanilla saucea, perfumed with Earl Grey Tea and finished with a Granny Smith apple
Lemon Squash – an exquisite dessert inspired by the classic lemon cake with a range of citrus flavours
Celebration – an irresistible milk chocolate mousse with blackcurrants and forest fruits, combined with raspberry, white chocolate and basil
Van Damme – a signature mousse of chocolate, spices and citrus together with candied apricots and coffee crème brulee
Chef Roger Van Damme
Roger van Damme is one of the world’s most experienced and innovative patissiers. In 2009, one of his desserts was elected THE greatest dessert in the World! One year later, Roger van Damme was elected Chef of the Year by Gault Millau.
Roger is also known as the godfather of molecular pastry and is known for his complex, intense, unforgettable desserts. As a child, he was fascinated with baking and often helped his great grandfather I his bakery. After finishing cooking school in Bruges, he fulfilled his dream and worked for Huize van Wely, one of the most famous dessert makers in Holland.
A few years later, Roger and his wife Cindy moved to Antwerp where he opened his first Het Gebaar tearoom. Later they moved their business to the beautiful historical botanical garden of Antwerp, and opened Het Gebaar as it is known all over the world today. Roger is inspired by his good friends Sergio Herman and Albert Adrià, who were dessert specialists at El Bulli.
In 2010, Roger started his own cooking TV show at Njam.tv and in 2011 he was rewarded with a Michelin star. More cookery programmes followed and his first book ‘Desserts’ reached number two in the bestseller list after just one week. In 2012, his book was third in the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in the category of dessert books. Roger has since published two additional books, one on baking ‘Bakken’ and one on easy cooking with the kids ‘Smossen mag’; both based on his successful cooking TV shows.
In February 2014 Roger launched his first foreign adventure and launched dessert series which he specially developed for Thailand. Roger has now a new dessert cooking TV show ‘Zoete Zonde’ running on njam! where he takes a classic basic dessert and elevates it to a Roger van Damme artwork. In his fourth book, ‘Een groot gebaar’, based on the TV show ‘Zoet Zonde’ he reveals his secrets. He has collected his best dessert dishes of ‘Het Gebaar’ for the past 20 years, and created several new recipes.
