Deli grows with fresh success

GOURMET DELI Dean & Deluca is celebrating its sixth successful year in business in Thailand by opening a sixth outlet at the Crystal Veranda mall in Lat Phrao-Ram Intra area.

Though the decor at the new deli maintains the original neo-classical, minimalist look of existing outlets, with marble floors, white tile walls and exposed metal ducts, it feels more like a casual restaurant. It is unlike other chic eatery hybrids, such as the company’s flagship store at the MahaNakhon Cube Building where customers are mostly expats and local office workers.

The new location caters mainly to local families and is big enough for 80 diners. While there is not much of a range of grocery goods, gifts and ready-to-eat items, it offers the largest wine selection of any Dean & Deluca branch, with more than 40 labels of selected wines available by the bottle and by the glass.

A casual area at the front of the deli has wooden tables and chairs for diners, with light meals and drinks on offer, while the main dining area at the rear has comfortable grey upholstered seats and black divans around marble topped tables.

As well as refreshments, there’s an extensive a la carte menu with a wide selection of all-day brunches, salads, sandwiches, main meals and pastas. Like the flagship store, the Crystal Veranda branch offers the Maine lobster (Bt995) that is steamed and served with drawn butter and a lemon wedge. 

“Each dish is cooked fresh. We don’t use dried pasta, it’s made fresh by our own chefs and 80 per cent of vegetables are from the Royal Projects, many of them organic,” says the restaurant’ supervisor Chayanit Jaiwang.

Launched in New York’s SoHo district in 1977 by Joel Dean and Giorgio Deluca, the deli made its Southeast Asia debut in Bangkok in 2010 at the MahaNakhon Cube Building on Narathiwas Rajanakarin Road. 

Following the positive response from local diners and an expansion to a lifestyle brand, Sorapoj Techakraisri, chief executive officer of Pace Development Corporation, bought the Dean & Deluca brand two years ago for US$140 million.

To mark its sixth anniversary, Dean & Deluca is offering its two best-selling dishes – Salmon Teriyaki and Tropical Pancakes – for just Bt201, from the normal prices of Bt325 and Bt295 respectively. The promotion is valid until the end of this month. 

Salmon Teriyaki offers a 150-gram chunk of medium-seared Norwegian salmon glazed with lightly sweet teriyaki dressing and seasoned with ground black kampot pepper, giving a hint of strong and delicate aroma. It is served with shiitake mushrooms, heirloom carrots and asparagus, stir-fried with miso sauce.

Tropical Pancakes is a stack of four fluffy pancakes topped with freshly diced mango, pineapple, banana and strawberry, with whipped cream and strawberry slices and maple syrup on the side.

Popular for all-day brunch is Smoked Salmon Benedict (Bt445) featuring English muffins topped with stir-fried baby spinach and slices of raw smoked salmon with hollandaise sauce. On the side is roasted vine ripened tomatoes and potato hash with bell peppers and onions. 

Irresistible for cheese lovers is Black Truffle Mac & Cheese (Bt295). The dish comprises snail shell-shaped lumache pasta cooked with black truffles and three kinds of cheese – talegio, asiago and provolone – dressed with micro greens.

Another delectable dish is Tiger Prawn Fettuccini (Bt425). The fettuccini is cooked with cilantro lime pesto, chilli, garlic, white marinated anchovy and organic fresh sea green caviar, a flavoured edible seaweed. It’s topped with two grilled black tiger prawns and sprinkled with roasted cashew nuts. 

For a main dish, Sriracha Lime Spicy BBQ Ribs (Bt695) is more than tempting. 

“The half rack of ribs is marinated with Japanese beer Hitachino – a weizen beer with banana-like flavour and light taste – for 18 hours until tender. It is rubbed with sriracha hot sauce, in-house |dressing and organic honey and sous-vided for four hours and grilled. It is sprinkled with chopped cilantro. It is best with coleslaw and a half of slightly charred lime,” says Chayanit.

Thailand’s Dean & Deluca has two in-house coffee blends. The MahaNakhon blend with hints of cocoa and dried fruit is brewed for both iced and hot coffee, while the Bangkok blend with creamy milk chocolate and mild citrus notes is best for milk coffee.

Iced Caramel Macchiato (Bt135 to Bt175) is not too sweet, although the coffee shot is topped with vanilla syrup, milk and caramel sauce. Dark Chocolate Chip Milkshake (Bt135 to Bt165) is a rich and creamy treat of chocolate chip-flavoured gelato, milk and whipped cream.

“We use French brand Lavanille gelato to make the milkshake. Other flavours are strawberry, French vanilla bean, banana caramel, white chocolate, and cookies n’ cream,” says Chayanit.

Choosing a sweet treat is difficult as the deli’s glass shelves are filled with mouth-watering delights such as lemon meringue tart, berry feuillete, vanilla choux cream, rainbow cake and mixed fruit crepe cake.

  

SIMPLY DELICIOUS

>> Dean & Deluca’s latest outlet is on the first floor of the Crystal Veranda mall on Ekamai-Ram Intra Road. It’s open daily from 10am to 10pm. Call (02) 061 2846. 

>> The other five locations are at the MahaNakhon Cube Building, Central Embassy, the EmQuartier mall, Park Ventures and Sathorn Square.