Byline: Marina Shafik

The Surreality Of Xilitla

There is a place, in the Mexican town of Xilitla, where a man – English surrealist Edward James – gave birth to his irrational architectural dream. This impossible city lies hidden in the forest, with mysterious towers, unfinished stairways, gigantic concrete flowers, waterfalls, gothic arches and other grotesque elements. Here, in this exquisitely sculptured Garden of Eden known as Las Pozas (‘The Pools’), the organic and artificial blend; Edawrd James’ subconscious becomes tangible, and visitors find themselves wandering among the exquisite ruins of a long-lost culture.

Khmer-American artist Albert Samreth has created his own Xilitla, an exhibition running at Sa Sa Bassac until November 29. Atop a blue carpet, reminiscent of a water garden, are everything from interactive sculptures to a Khmer-speaking bird who might remark on how gorgeous you look as you pass, from ancient ruins to vast canvas curtains exploring the remains of Angkor and its mighty sunsets.

“I was fascinated by the unfinished monumental project of Las Pozas,” says the artist. “Incompleteness is the closest thing to immortality. It’s an ongoing process. James’ paradise reminded me of Angkor, another abandoned incomplete city.”

The cities of Xilitla and Phnom Penh have more in common than you might think, notes curator Erin Gleeson. “Xilitla and Phnom Penh are just 10 degrees apart from the equator. Xilitla and Angkor are both ruins in the forest. With every gesture in the gallery, the artist is talking to Xilitla, to Angkor, to Phnom Penh, making them communicate with each other. The project is also about time and change, translated in a very elegant way. In the commercial paintings bought, cut up and gathered by Albert in his collage, you have the representation of the representation which also relates to painting history in Cambodia. Albert is probably the first artist who has interrogated Angkor like that, suggesting a question: are these the ruins on our consciousness?”

Point out the vast blocks made of Styrofoam scattered around the gallery and the artist explains he’s going to write the dates of visitors’ first kisses on them. His rationale? These blocks might survive the passage of time, much like the Rosetta Stone, and when people discover them they will wonder about the meaning of those numbers.

Similarly, the exhibition’s talking common hill myna bird will be an unusual ambassador. Says Albert: “There is this idea that even if society ends, there will be this bird who can speak languages and let the history of humanity continue, a bit like these ruins from the past that we still visit today.”

And what would our English surrealist, creator of the original Xilitla gardens, make of it all? “‘Surrealistic’ is a state of mind,” says Erin. “It involves being able to connect things that normally don’t connect. You cannot rationalise in that room. In this sense the exhibition can be considered as surrealistic, but this is just one of the multiple connections.”

WHO: Albert Samreth
WHAT: Xilitla art exhibition
WHERE: Sa Sa Bassac, #18 Sothearos Blvd (2nd floor)
WHEN: Until November 29
WHY: “I believe in the power of the imagination to remake the world, to release the truth within us, to hold back the night, to transcend death, to charm motorways, to ingratiate ourselves with birds, to enlist the confidences of madmen.” – JG Ballard

Dish: A Cauldron Of Indian Alchemy

Irecently discovered The Lunch Box, a Bollywood movie showcased at the Cannes Film Festival last year. In it, a young wife attempts to put the romance back into her marriage by cooking her way to her husband’s heart, but a mistake triggers unexpected events. Most intriguing was the intricate system of delivery of these colourful lunchboxes, from homes to offices, passing from hand to hand, from bicycles to buses. I was also fascinated by the wives’ preparation of meals and their exchange of culinary tricks and tips, which made me crave Indian food. Enter Anjali, housed in a colonial building and facing the swirling waters of the Tonle Sap.

Here, an inscription on the wall sets the immediate tone: ‘Sleep ‘til you’re hungry, eat ‘til you’re sleepy.’ Small statues of Buddha, geckoes and ancient Sanskrit musings decorate the curry powder-coloured walls.The menu includes Asian, Indian and Western, although opting for the latter is like going to the Caribbean in search of a ski run.

Each dish seems possessed of the vivid and intense colours of India: the red of the masala sauce and the green of the allo saag. This ancient art of cooking is an alchemy of sorts, combining aromatic spices with genuine ingredients to produce ecstasy-inducing flavours.

A personal favourite is the chicken tikka butter masala ($5): spiced, buttered pieces of chicken charcoal-grilled and cooked in a rich masala gravy. I can’t resist the temptation of plunging a generous piece of naan bread into the inviting creamy sauce. Even if meat specialities are served with steamed rice, I recommend the naan – either plain, butter, or garlic and cheese ($1 – $1.75) – because it adds a scrumptious scent to the dish. The vindaloo (even the menu warns:‘VERY HOT!!’) is a fiery curry prepared with potato, onion and chillies, spiced with masala and available with chicken ($5.25) or beef ($6.25). This is another excellent pick. As a final treat I choose allo saag ($3.75): potato and spinach cooked in tomato, onion and masala gravy; a creamy, appetising side dish which could even serve as a main course.

Dishes are served in deceptively small-looking cauldrons, which seem to possess the supernatural power of automatically refilling themselves. In short, make sure you’re hungry before you go! Given a lunchbox like this every day, the only fitting dessert for me would be a Spanish siesta.

Anjali, #273 Sisowath Quay; 012 457901.

If walls could talk

If we were to examine Loven Ramos’ DNA, we might find interconnecting shapes resembling paint brushes, rhyming chromosomes, and hotel tokens much like those in the game of Monopoly. Art, poetry and hotels, in fact, are the three cornerstones of his life. But who is Loven Ramos? This affable, inspiring man is a visual poet from the Philippines and his intriguing exhibition, Room Service, opens on September 11. It focuses on the intertwining fates of a hotel’s day-to-day business, as well as intimate portraits of people and events.

“The key to my exhibition is the material,” says the artist. “I have contacted many hotels and collected old linens, menus, doors… When those items arrived, I touched them and started communicating with them. ‘What happened under these sheets? Who flipped through the pages of this menu?’, I wondered. Then stories started to unfold.”

This love for art and poetry started at a tender age, thanks to a children’s magazine which published a poem by William Butler Yeats. “I was seven or eight when I got tricked into The Song Of Wandering Aengus. Not only the words were very deep, but it was also illustrated so beautifully that it really gave me a sense of wonder.” His passion for literature further developed through his grandmother, who owned a library in their village. When Loven moved to Manila, he found himself among artists, whom he endeavoured to learn from. “You drew before you walked,” Loven’s mother used to tell him. Says Loven: “Translating poetry into visual art, and vice versa, is a way to fully express myself. Every time I work on something, words and images play simultaneously in my head.”

But for now, let’s return to hotels, around which Loven has always orbited. It was in a hotel that he had his first exhibition and also in a hotel that he found, by chance, an old girlfriend from college (now his wife). Today, he owns his own: the 1961 hotel/art gallery in Siem Reap. “It’s funny how, for a couple of decades, the history of Cambodia has been shaped by hotels,” he says. “Sofitel, Raffles and Amansara, for example, have hosted politicians, presidents, royalties and heads of state, from Jacqueline Kennedy to US President Barack Obama, and many important agreements were taken at that time. I was there; I have seen this happening, while wondering what was going on in this or that room.”

In his multimedia exhibition, Loven showcases collages, soft sculptures, paintings and installations. As a hotel-inspired ‘creative archaeologist’, he digs out, suggests, reveals.

WHO: Loven Ramos
WHAT: Room Service exhibition opening
WHERE: The Insider Gallery, InterContinental Hotel, #296 Mao Tse Tung Blvd.
WHEN: 6pm September 11 – October 11
WHY: “The hotel and the characters under its roof serve as a microcosm for what was happening in the country during that time.” – Emilio Estevez

 

Paying culinary respect to cleavage

Thailand’s Khao Nom Sao mountain is named after them. Fierce Amazonian women, legend has it, would slice one off to improve their aim with bow and arrow.  And scientists at New Zealand’s University of Wellington in 2009 finally proved they’re what men look at first. Boobs, knockers, hooters, gazangas: call them what you will, breasts are big business – and they’re taking centre stage at a very unusual event this month.

This equal parts artistic and culinary initiative involves the use of special cooking molds in cast aluminum having the shape of the female bosom to make exceptional dishes. Chefs from local restaurants as well as amateur cooks can join the food making and tasting at Psar Kap Ko restaurant, on July 26 from 4pm. The event – free and open to all – is also a must for lovers of prahok, the main ingredient for these unconventional creations.

Breast Stupa Cookery: Prahok/Plaa Raa is an ongoing, collaborative project started in 2005 by Thai artist Pinaree Sanpitak. Presented in nine countries so far, it’s part of Rates of Exchange, Un-Compared: Contemporary Art in Bangkok and Phnom Penh, a six-month series of exhibitions, residencies, gatherings and symposia presented across Cambodia and Thailand, curated by Roger Nelson and Brian Curtin.

But why breasts? Since 1993, while first breastfeeding her son, Pinaree Sanpitak’s primary inspiration has been the female body, distilled to its most basic forms and imbued with an ethereal spirituality. A woman’s body is a temple and, at the same time, it’s a mysterious land that offers solace, pleasure and nourishment. Here, the artist reviews this concept by combining the image of a sacred Buddhist stupa with the female breast, creating a sensual monument to womanhood. “It all started from a personal experience: I was trying to understand myself through the body, something which for me is both mental and physical,” says the artist. “Initially, it was a female body form and then it started crossing gender, relating to everybody.”

The topic of gender is one Sanpitak has been exploring for more than 20 years, using a variety of media and focusing on sensory perceptions. Her installations include soft breast-shaped cushions; sculptures and coloured breast-beads from Murano glass, and a site-specific project involving hundreds of winged origami boxes and glass breast-balloons dangling from the ceiling. “In my installations there is often a calm atmosphere, like in a sanctuary, but at the same time it’s imbued with sensuality,” says the artist.

Sanpitak’s artworks have been exhibited in galleries around the world, including Japan, the US, Australia, Germany, the Philippines and Singapore, but how will a Cambodian audience react in a country where bikinis are considered risqué? “I find that a woman in a wet sarong is even sexier than one in a bikini,” she says. “Thailand is not too different from Cambodia in terms of not showing but sensually revealing and this is extremely sexy.”

WHO: Pinaree Sanpitak
WHAT: Breast Stupa Cookery: Prahok/Plaa Raa art & culinary event
WHERE: Psar Kapko Restaurant, Street 9 & Sothearos Blvd.
WHEN: 4pm July 26
WHY: “Some people think having large breasts makes a woman stupid. Actually, it’s quite the opposite: a woman having large breasts makes men stupid.” – Rita Rudner

Paintings that speak

Usually, when looking at a painting, we do so with our eyes. With Song Kheang’s canvases, be prepared to do so with your ears, too. No, this is not some kind of experimental talking-painting project. It’s the juxtaposition of buildings, temples and streets crowded together which talks to us. It’s the strong and vivid mix of colours, chasing each other along the surface of the art, which emits sound: the sound of street vendors, of people chatting, of kids playing, the litanies of monks, the noise of pots and cutlery. Coloured Stones, a new exhibition by Song Kheang at The Insider Gallery, speaks of Cambodia, where the vibrant noise of the country’s historic cities seems to perforate every canvas.

Angkor Light, the exhibition’s manifesto, is a vertical city, running to the sky. From time to time helical movements suggest the image of a vortex or the shape of anthropomorphic statues. Buddhas, sitting with their legs crossed, look at the fabulous town from the top of its temples. Horror vacui, the fear of leaving empty spaces, is a dominant aspect in Song Kheang’s work. His paintings have the vocabulary of ancient storytellers: their patterns, profusion of ornaments and vivid hues remind us of precious tapestries and Hindu illustrations. After all, India and Cambodia are historically intertwined and in these pieces we catch many influences derived from our not-so-distant friend.

The representation of Cambodian landmarks and elements of its cultural heritage is not the commercial and scholastic copy we’re used to, but rather an original interpretation of the artist’s personal view and perception of it. Perusing these paintings is like walking through Cambodia’s history, imbued with a sense of its magical and legendary past. Like in the ancient epic poems, we meet Jayavarman II; find ourselves in a fabulous Angkor; dance with Apsaras; bump into elephant-headed fish, lotus flowers and smiling stones. Fantasy, mythology and religion blend with history, narrating the deeds of a long-lost Kingdom.

“The world is a combination of diverse cultures, traditions, religions,” says Kheang. “Similarly, the temples are built with numerous stones, all of them different from each other. As the time passes by, the stones lose their original shape and colour and, ultimately, encounter nothing but ruins. That is what is happening to Cambodian cultural heritage.” Kheang’s words are filled with a sense of impotence, an outcry about the current state of abandon of a country once considered magnificent; his works not only a way to express concern for his neglected homeland, but also an invitation to safeguard its legacy.

WHO: Song Kheang
WHAT: Coloured Stones exhibition opening
WHERE: The Insider Gallery, InterContinental Hotel, #296 Mao Tse Tung Blvd.
WHEN: 6pm July 3 to August 1
WHY: “A country without a past has the emptiness of a barren continent and a city without old buildings is like a man without a memory.” – Graeme Shankland

 

Dish: Pizza, vino & the secret of good living

When I tell someone that I am Italian, for some strange reason the first thing that comes to his or her mind is pizza. Taking for granted that being Italian I should be a Queen of Cuisine, one of the first questions they ask is: ‘Can you cook something for me?’ Disappointingly, I am not the master chef that people expect and, surprisingly, I can’t make a pizza but I do know very well what a proper Italian one tastes like.

After taking a stroll near Kandal Market, I find a small pizza and wine shop on Street 136. Unable to resist the tempting call of my culinary origins, I pop in to find out more about this place called Ga.Dò. As I enter the restaurant, an Italian-Jamaican friendly chap called Marco greets me with a smile while I look at the endless showcase of wine bottles with amazement. It feels a bit like a walking tour through Italy, as I recognise wines from all the regions.

Suddenly, the words of Clifton Fadiman come to mind: “If food is the body of good living, wine is its soul.” Here, if I give credit to his opinion, there is certainly a selection wide enough to find the essence of a happy life. Marco, international director of Ga.Dò, explains with pride how he personally designed and assembled the articulated wooden display which presents traditional, premium and class selection wines. Bottles range from $20 for a Bonarda to $100 for a Chianti. They are not cheap, but the quality is assured and certified.

Through a small window I catch a glimpse of the kitchen, where an Italian chef from Florence is making my pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, black olives, ham and mushrooms. While waiting, I order a glass of house wine ($3), which turns out to be quite full in body and very pleasant to drink. Food is served by Linda, who is also a sommelier and can explain the 50 shades of taste of their nectar of the gods.

I leave Bacco and Dionisio for a moment and finally taste my pizza capricciosa ($9). The original version is with green peppers, but I’ve asked for black olives instead. The preparation doesn’t take long and this steaming, mouth-watering pizza has an irresistibly thin, crunchy crust and a very rich flavour which reminds me of home. The chef reveals the secret: traditional recipe, fresh ingredients directly imported from Italy and a good stone oven.

Here they don’t bring you ketchup or crazy sauces to pour on top of the thick dough which in some places they still call ‘pizza’. If you are a true lover of the ultimate Made In Italy dish, you won’t be disappointed. Fancy a dish of pasta? Choose between spaghetti alla bolognese; with tuna and lime, with garlic and parsley and alla carbonara.

While eating, Adriano Celentano’s songs create a relaxing atmosphere with a touch of Italy, without excessive stereotyping or the old over-listened-to O Sole Mio, or even Sarà Perché Ti Amo. The pizzeria is cosy, but the long wooden table at the centre of the room provides a sense of conviviality. One more thing: Ga.Dò is probably the only place in Phnom Penh to sell Lemonsoda and Oransoda, the famous Italian refreshing drinks made with flesh of the fruit combined with lemon and orange juice.

Ga.Dò, #110 Street 136; 097 5477010.

 

The silence of nature

A man taking a nap on his cyclo; a Khmer family chilling in an open space which resembles a theatre set; a bright red door that you are not supposed to open which discloses something decaying but terribly fascinating. That’s the unpredictable magic of life and it is the task of a good photographer to capture the moment and share it with the world. Michael Klinkhamer, a photographer from Holland, never goes anywhere without his beloved Nikon: “You never know what you can find out there!”

Following an exhibition focusing on Cambodians, the photographer turned his zoom lens to the surprising nature of the Kingdom of Wonders. In a new solo show, Pure Thomacheat (‘Pure Nature’), he explores Cambodian nature in its purest beauty as well as in its most fragile and declining aspects, where life and death co-exist. “The difficult side of taking pictures of nature is that photos can easily turn into a cliché, so for me it was more about looking into the drama of nature. Cambodia is a place where pure beauty can be found everywhere, but like most precious things in life, it is also struggling for survival.”

Prints measuring more than a metre in size have a powerful impact on the viewer. Some shots have an irresistibly poetic touch, like the photo of a small child gazing into the camera while cradling an enormous lotus leaf. This particular picture, taken during one of Klinkhamer’s photography workshops, now serves as the exhibition’s manifesto. “I was shooting with some people in a lotus field when a group of children came towards us and we started playing together. After all the fun I walked away, then I looked back and I saw a boy standing there holding a big leaf. I knew immediately that was the essential photo.”

Klinkhamer was 22 when he got his first camera. During a trip to San Francisco in the early ‘80s, he found himself caught up in a protest against the movie Cruising, in which a cop played by Al Pacino goes undercover to catch a serial killer in New York’s gay S&M scene. Newsweek printed several of his shots and he has since worked with fellow shutterbugs of note, Peter Hill Beard, Bert Stern and Tim Page.

His latest images, he says, are messages in a bottle addressed to the young generation of city dwellers who have forgotten how to look at – and listen to the voice of – nature. “Sometimes in the forest, the silence gets so deafening that your ears start to squeak. You can only hear the blood running, a few seconds later some animal starts screaming and then you have 10,000 little creatures united in a choral call pervading the whole forest.”

WHO: Michael Klinkhamer
WHAT: Pure Thomacheat (‘Pure Nature’) photo exhibition opening
WHERE: The Insider Gallery, InterContinental Hotel, #296 Mao Tse Tung Blvd.
WHEN: 6pm May 29 – June 28
WHY: “A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.” – Dorothea Lange

 

30 art collective

You could be forgiven for being taken aback by the buffalo in the lobby of Sofitel. The life-sized beast, made entirely of rice straw, is one of 100 pieces showcased at Galerie des Arts, an eclectic exhibition held in collaboration with ReCreation art agency. The sculpture was given life by Cambodian artist Nou Sary. Both the title – Nourriture (‘food’) – and the medium are connected to the sculptor’s memories of starvation under the Khmer Rouge: a central topic for Sary, who uses art as a way to process the pain of his past.
Thirty other artists, local and international, contributed to the collection, which includes everything from painting and sculpture to pottery and jewellery, from knives and sabres to fashions crafted from recyclable materials. “Cambodian artists now are more open and confident than before,” says Madeleine de Langalerie, curating the exhibition until it closes on May 31. “They don’t copy any more and they are developing their own ideas and language. We wanted to create a diverse group to show how much they can do.”

Among the many works dotted around the hotel is a silver-plated gecko designed by Soth Simarck. Its body is made of intertwining leaves, generating a rich and elegant pattern. This protector of households evokes the vital bond between man and nature, something which should be safeguarded. Nature is a central element also for Som Rany, a jeweller who appreciates the simple beauty of organic materials, particularly seeds. These are hand-collected and rubbed with coconut and lemongrass oil, which leaves their natural splendour shining. “These two artists, together with fashion designer Oeun, have their own social business,” says Langalerie. “They are three lovely and determined ladies who started their own trade providing an income to people in need, particularly women.”

Galerie des Arts is a dialogue between different forms of art, as well as different generations. On one side there are the ‘fathers’ who survived Pol Pot and still bear the scars, like Sary, Lim Theam and Sera. On the other, a rising wave of young artists bringing fresh proposals with energy and a touch of romanticism. This is the case with Joint Destiny, by Thang Sothea. “My two artworks, which share the same title, are more powerful when they are together,” says the artist. “One is a painting depicting the symbolical juxtaposition of two fingerprints and the other one is a sculpture representing the union of two lovers.

WHO: 100 artists, local and international
WHAT: Galerie des Arts exhibition
WHERE: Sofitel, #26 Old August Site, Sothearos Blvd.
WHEN: Until May 31
WHY: “Creativity takes courage. ” – Henri Matisse

 

 

Feast your eyes

Food and art share a bond as old as the pyramids. Time-worn paintings of sumptuous banquets adorn the walls of these colossal tombs in Africa: images the ancient Egyptians believed could feed departed souls in the afterlife. The Greeks and Romans weren’t far behind, either. From still-life paintings in the Renaissance to the imaginative portraits of fruits and vegetables by Arcimboldo; from Manet’s Le Déjeuner Sur L’Herbe to Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup cans, food’s voyage through art history has thus far been long and intriguing. Its next stop, locally, is the French Institute and a soon-to-open exhibition of ‘culinary art’.

“There are currently famous food photographers who use humour, sensitivity, provocation, abstraction or realism for their artistic shots,” says Céline Ngi, head of communications at the institute. “The idea of this exhibition is to present this diversified and captivating new creative niche. Food photography can also bring sociological, ethnological or even psychological reflections: are we what we eat? Does something that looks great necessarily have a good taste too? Why can a dish that appears disgusting for someone turn out to be a delicacy for somebody else?”

Every picture is personal, expressing the identity and gastronomic point of view of the photographer. Céline motions to Virginie Rol’s entry in the exhibition, entitled – rather gruesomely – Cadavre Exquis (‘Exquisite Corpse’). In it, the photographer uses retroillumination to highlight in detail a single oyster. “I know that for many people it won’t appear very appetising,” says Celine, “but as a shellfish lover I still find it delicious!”

Among the funniest photographs in Arts & Food is one of a pair of black rubber boots overloaded with groceries. J’ai Descendu Dans Mon Jardin (‘I went down my garden’), is the explicative title of this shot by Patrick Rougereau. Another offbeat image is the surrealistic composition Street Burger, by Cécile Venaille and Guillaume Van Santen.

The exhibition brings together pictures initially displayed at The International Festival of Culinary Photography in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Arts & Food offers a tantalising tidbit of the larger event, currently touring Asia, whetting your appetite with three thematic sections: Fish and shellfish; Fruits & vegetables, herbs, flowers and spices, and Street food, Food on the fly.

WHO: International culinary photographers
WHAT: Arts & Food photo exhibition
WHERE: Institut Français du Cambodge, #218 Street 184
WHEN: From 6:30pm May 15 until June 14
WHY: “Plates or pictures of sunshine taste of happiness and love.” – Keith Floyd

 

If music be the food of love …..

“Thai food ain’t about simplicity. It’s about the juggling of disparate elements to create a harmonious finish, like a complex musical chord.” — David Thompson

Invited by Sofitel to sample a new menu, I’m curious to find out if ‘Tempting Thai’ is worthy of the title. To be sure, I bring Melanie: a friend and connoisseur of Thai cuisine. At the hotel’s La Coupole restaurant, Thai Chef Khun Phonphod Chantriam (also known as ‘Chef Joe’) is overseeing the final preparations. Like an expert conductor, he gives calm, confident instructions to his helpers. The gastronomic show is starting and everything must be perfect. 

But let’s get to the real protagonist. At the centre of the restaurant stands a buffet so vast that deciding where to start is a dilemma of Hamlet-like proportions. We opt for shared appetisers, including goong tempura (tiger prawn in special butter, deep-fried until crisp and served with sweet chilli sauce); spring rolls; tod man pla (Thai fish cake) and a curious envelope of banana leaf filled with spicy meat – definitely one for chili freaks.

As a big fan of tom yum soup (I’ve tried it in so many different restaurants that I must surely be an expert by now), I’m intrigued by Khun Phonphod’s offering, which is creamier and lighter in colour than others I’ve tasted before. Chef Joe adds a huge tiger prawn to my bowl, I close my eyes and… delicious! All the ingredients blend well together and the soup serves as a great opener.

The buffet, which costs $30, has nine stations: first there’s salad; tom yum; som tum Thai; deep-fried; noodle (with a special mention to the phad Thai goong salad, which was very much appreciated by Melanie). Then there’s the stir-fried station; chicken and fish steamed, Chiang Mai-style; beef, chicken and duck curries; steamed rice and finally, if by some miracle you still have space in your stomach, there’s dessert.

Moreover, for gourmand tablemates who prefer to be seduced by a mix of Eastern and Western delicacies, there’s an international buffet with a selection of cheeses; cold cuts; salads; sushi; ice cream; candies; crêpes and even a chocolate fountain.

Finally, a few words must be saved for the presentation: an exquisite combination of simplicity and beauty. Clay pots, in which food can be cooked while maintaining all its flavours and aromas, together with a variety of fresh ingredients displayed along the culinary circuit recall the genuineness of the market with a blend of haute cuisine. Tempting indeed.

Tempting Thai is available from 6pm every Monday at La Coupole, Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, #26 Old August Site, Sothearos Blvd.