NEST RESTAURANT TO UPGRADE

Nest Restaurant, which opened five years ago pioneering a new contemporary look and contemporary cuisine – not to mention pioneering the best grilled steaks in town – is undergoing a revamp with a new look, new chef and a new menu.

The restaurant will retain its famous steaks, especially its steak and lobster special which will be served with different garnishes.

New man behind the cooking stove, chef Bunna, who has notched up four -year stints in South America and also Barbados, has an Italian and Japanese cuisine background and will develop the new menu with Italian food, fresh pasta and sushi also making an entry. The Khmer section on the menu will be boosted with some unique items promised.

There will of course be a grand opening night, when upgrades are complete in the not-too-distant future.

MACARON STORE TO OPEN TONIGHT

Local punters who have a penchant for macarons, or macaroons as some people render the spelling, will be in seventh heaven next week with the opening of a new store at King’s Road that is totally devoted to the meringue-based sweet.

The Angkor W Group of Restaurant’s popular public relations and communication manager Clem Balasoto says the new store, Angkor Macaron, has adapted the traditional recipe of the sweet replacing the traditional almond with cashew nut.

She adds that the macarons will be, “Freshly hand made by our French chef Yan Poillot who has captured the French spirit and secrets into his recipes to provide a mouthful of heaven in one bite.

“The variety of flavours include watermelon, pineapple, durian, jackfruit, orange, coconut, mango, melon-tarot, passion-fruit and longan, to pay homage to our beautiful country. Each has its own personality, and all of them are made to savour for their delicacy and unique character. Angkor Macarons are produced using only Cambodia-based natural ingredients, without any preservatives, and are gluten-free.”

She added that Angkor Macarons are available in “nicely decorated” gift boxes of 3, 5, 7 or 9 pieces.

Macarons with champagne will be served at the grand opening of the store this evening, at Kings Road Angkor Village opposite Chez M. Paul Restaurant.

GERMAN BREW ON THE MENU

A call has gone out for staff for an interesting new restaurant that is slated for opening in mid-late November this year. The Khmer-owned restaurant will brew German beer with “original ingredients from Germany.” The restaurant is Khmer owned and the manager is German expat Silvio Julian Blechschmids who has lived in Cambodia for five years.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER LIST

In yet another new list Siem Reap scores well in Conde Nast Traveler list of the world’s friendliest cities. Siem Reap came in at number six on the list, behind Cape Town on number five and pipping Sydney on number seven. The magazine reported, “Though Siem Reap is full of ‘awe-inspiring beauty’ and ‘incredible food and sights,’ our readers say that its ‘people were the best’.”

NEW SEWAGE SYSTEM FLUSH WITH SUCCESS

Siem Reap’s new waste water filter station and sewerage system is up and running after an official inauguration ceremony on Thursday August 28. The station can filter up to 5,224 cubic metres daily, and covers 10.83 square kilometres of mostly residential areas in the city’s east and west. The cost, $29.96 million, was part funded by South Korea and partly by the Kingdom’s national budget.

SHORTS

THEME PARK PLANNED: Hong Kong-based Cheung Sheng Global Holdings Ltd last week reiterated its ambitious plan to build a theme park in Siem Reap, as the first part of a huge real estate development in town.

CLOSED FOR RENOVATION: Banana Leaf Wine and Cocktail Bar is closed for renovations, which will take about two months to complete.