On April 27 Nicolas Isnard, a Michelin-starred chef from the Mediterranean region, came to Phnom Penh for an exceptional evening of food and wine inspired by a menu he conjured up especially for Topaz’s guests. Isnard learned to cook in his Italian grandmother’s kitchen, where he first discovered the power that even the simplest ingredients can possess. He was in Cambodia for the first time, presenting a menu including scallop tartare with coriander, cucumbers and apple, slow cooked grouper with leeks, kumquats and peanut sauce, roasted pigeon with granny smith apples, ratte potato and hazelnuts and his renowned reinventinon of French onion soup, a work of culinary, scientific and visual art. Isnard also trained the Topaz team, led by executive chef Sopheak Pov, on how to make his French onion soup. Photos supplied