Juniper
Gangnam a la Chefs Style
A savoury stew of fabulous food, enchanting entertainment, and an awe-inspiring atmosphere – the Grand Finale of the 12th Malaysia International Gourmet Festival (MIGF) at the Sunway Lagoon Surf Beach proved to be the piece de resistance of the month-long epicurean extravaganza.
For the Grand Finale, hundreds of guests – attired in fetching holiday/beach wear – gathered at Sunway Lagoon’s Surf Beach at 7.30pm, where a tide of cocktails was served. As the excited attendees nibbled finger-food and sipped a waterfall-supply of Carlsberg beer, troupes of fire-eaters emerged and openly wolfed-down flames, sparks and embers – making the event all the ‘hotter’. All the while, paparazzi-like photographers and videographers stole their way through the throng, snapping pictures Hollywood red carpet-style – thus adding high glamour to the event. Guests wanting pictorial keepsakes of the evening purchased souvenir photos of themselves, shot and printed on-site, by MIGF’s Official Imaging Partner, FUJIFILM, which donated proceeds from the service to The Budimas Charitable Foundation for Children.
Yummy satay
The aroma of fragrant cuisine wafting from food stations resembling bazaar hawker stalls was too much for guests to resist, and they soon began tucking in to the wide range of ‘superstar’ Malaysian street food on offer. The mouthwatering meals included appetizers, mains and desserts, and featured Fabulous Food 1Malaysia’s signature dishes of Rojak Pasembor, Mee Rebus and Yong Tau Foo. The feasting was fast and furious, and a lip-smackingly good time was had by all.
Wide variety of desserts
Queue for Penang Char Kuey Teow was the longest
Extreme right – Acting Director-General of Tourism Malaysia, YBhg Dato’ Haji Azizan Noordin
At 8pm, the Guest of Honour, Acting Director–General of Tourism Malaysia, YBhg Dato’ Haji Azizan Noordin, arrived and was duly escorted to the very special VIP area, comprising two exotic ‘islands’ parallel to the Surf Beach. This was the cue for UK boy band The London Boys to storm the concert stage and captivate the audience with an arsenal of foot-tapping pop numbers. The British boppers soon surrendered the spotlight to a dazzling, multi-media opening gambit featuring an ingenious video parody and professional dancers, a renowned magician and the 28 sporting MIGF Master Chefs busting moves to Psy’s inescapable “Oppa Gangnam-style” uber-hit. The on-stage spectacular reached its crescendo with the ‘magical’ appearance of MIGF Organising Chairman, Dato’ Steve Day, centre stage – which was greeted with loud cheers and raucous applause.
Dato’ Steve Day magically appears out of a trunk
Dato’ Steve, who was clearly as excited as the audience, offered a warm welcome to all present, and expressed his delight over the triumph of the 12th MIGF – the region’s longest-running food festival. After a brief gustatory intermission, the MIGF maestro then invited the Acting Director-General of Tourism Malaysia for his assistance in honouring MIGF’s Master Chefs (who were each awarded with medals), as well as members of the MIGF Festival Advisory Committee (who were each presented with special plaques) – to the audible approval of the audience.
The highlight of the evening commenced without further ado – the presentation of 144 gold and silver MIGF chef statuettes – and many a chef and restaurant teams were feted for their masterly performance during the Festival. But the ultimate prize of the MIGF Golden Cauldron for Best All-round Restaurant was bagged by The Olive, whose charismatic chef, Australian Daniel Sheen, also snagged the Chef Congeniality title. Bagging a heartburn-inducing 8 awards for the evening, The Olive’s other accolades include: Judges’ Choice of Most Outstanding Cuisine at the Gala Launch; Fine Dining Awards’ Most Outstanding Main Course; and Judges’ Choice for Best Marketed Restaurant.
Also high in the esteem of gourmands were the 27 other participating restaurants, whose superlative teams, sensational settings and sinfully-exquisite fare created inimitable fine-dining experiences worthy of MIGF’s other special statuettes. Like The Olive, several restaurants raked in multiple awards – among them, Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie (Peoples’ Choice for Most Outstanding Cuisine at the Gala Launch; Judges’ Choice for Most Creative Festival Menu; Fine Cuisine Awards for Most Outstanding Starter) and Imperial Rama (Judges’ Choice for Most Creative Restaurant Station at the Gala Launch; Judges’ Choice for Best Marketed Restaurant; Festival Diners’ Awards for Most Outstanding Cuisine; and Fine Cuisine Awards Most Outstanding Appetiser.) Fellow MIGF winners in the 27 award categories included The Westin KL’s Five Sen5es, Qba and Prego; Makan Kitchen, L’Heritage, The Pomelo, West Lake Garden, Dynasty, Grill 582 and New Orleans Bar & Grill. A special, cherry-on-top achievement was attained by The Sunway Group upon being awarded the prestigious Outstanding Festival Achievement Award.
Compliments to the chefs
After the last accolade was awarded, it was ‘surf’s up’ – with the MIGF Surf Party. Taking their cue from the electrifying Alma Latina’s Band, the audience figuratively kicked off their shoes, let their hair down and danced their hawker food calories off. Bopping, bumping and boogieing to thumping Latin music beats, guests gleefully set their trapped ‘inner dancers’ free.
Revelers’ dancing feet soon led them to Sunway Lagoon’s The Lighthouse for MIGF’s afterparty, where more great cuisine, music and dance allowed guests and the Master Chefs to continue celebrating into the wee hours of the morning – and doubtless, marking their calendars, and making room in their stomachs, for the start of MIGF 2013.
