HÀ NỘI – Seven celebrated chefs from Italy, France, Việt Nam, Thailand and China will flex their culinary muscles during the Les Aromes Festival 2016 — an annual gastronomy event organised by Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi.

The chefs will showcase their creations at five wine dinners and eight delectable events during the festival, scheduled to take place at the hotel from October 10 to November 23.

Headlining this year’s event is Paolo Vitaletti, chef and owner of Italian trattoria, Appia, in Bangkok. Vitaletti, who has cooked for Angelina Jolie, Mick Jagger and Mark Zuckerberg, is set to host a number of lunches and dinners featuring authentic Roman-style dishes like handmade paccheri carbonara and cavatelli with lamb ragu at the Metropole’s Angelina fine-dining restaurant. Some of Vitaletti’s signature dishes will become part of the permanent menu at the restaurant when the festival ends.

Executive pastry chef and baker Christophe Grilo returns to the hotel for a bread, cheese and wine extravaganza on October 22.

Master cheesemaker Gerald Poulard will introduce gourmands to a selection of more than 100 different cheeses at La Veranda while chef Didier Corlou, owner of Verticale restaurant in Hà Nội, will hold a lecture on Vietnamese spices and herbs on November 3.

Chef Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn, owner of Le Du and BaaGaDin in Bangkok, modern reinterpretations of classic Thai dishes will be available on November 4 and 5. Chef Ton was trained in two of the world’s three Michelin-starred restaurants including Eleven Madison Park and Jean-Georges in New York.

Les Aromes Festival 2016’s agenda will also feature a chocolate eating day. Using only the finest chocolate made in Việt Nam, ‘A Day of Chocolate’ on November 5 will include a chocolate buffet, a chocolate cooking class, chocolate infused cocktails at the newly revamped Le Club and a special chocolate dinner at Orangerie.

The festivities will continue throughout November with a number of wine events including a Burgundy tasting and intimate private dinner with French wine connoisseur Thibault Gagey, Export Director of Maison Louis Jadot, on November 10.

More than 100 Metropole staff are co-ordinating the event, which is in its 10th season.

“The Metropole’s tenth annual Les Aromes Festival is going to be a culinary extravaganza, celebrating the end of the harvest and showcasing the very best that Hà Nội has to offer in international cuisines and fine wines,” said Franck Lafourcade, the Metropole’s general manager. – VNS