This tuna tartare dish is excellent and we love how the interpretation worked over the years.

Fabien Ettiene from Iniala Introduces us to two wines- A sequio red from South Africa and the Folador rose prosecco.

Here is a restaurant review that we did for Sea Fire Salt recently in June 2015at the Anantara in mai khao, Phuket.

We thoroughly enjoyed this review showcasing the work of one of phuket’s best chefs, Belinda Tuckwell. Restaurant review that will surely make you hungry and ready to try one of Phuket’s top restaurants. It comes highly recommended.

We love our Bloody Mary here at Think Media. We have tried them far and wide across the world. We have never seen one like this though…it has to win the large serving award for sure…THIS IS FROM SAM’S TAVERN IN SEATTLE WASHINGTON, in the USA

Photography is an art that does not get enough attention. We have documented some of the best from our own muddled perspectives here at think design in the past 49 issues. One that we have yet to give attention to is Alessio Cocchi a talented photographer from Italy who makes Phuket his second home.

Today in addition to his photography, he has created a photography café in Naiharn where you can go and enjoy that cross-pollination of art that we find so compelling here and pushes us to do events like our art dinners. 

Alessio Cocchi today is mainly based in Milan and is best known for his partnership with brands and magazines such as Gucci, Ferragamo and Vogue.  He born into a numerous and creative family that helped him become the creative force that he is today.  Tuscany where he lived as a child still inspires him and the colors and scents of the surrounding landscape became an inspirational source as he explored his own creative instincts that have led him to rise in the world of photography.

He started his career working as an assistant for a fashion and still-life photographer but immediately afterwards, decided to set up his own photo studio and thus launched his career as a professional photographer. At the age of 23, his images had already made their way into prestigious publications such as Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. Alessio's style is characterized by the unique and striking moods he creates through a meticulous study of lighting and its effects.  Today his work allows him to travel all over the world.

The café is a chance to bring some of this photographic inspiration to Phuket and to would be photographers in the future.  Here you can see his work and sample some of the food of his native Italy, letting one inspire the other. What could be better? While sitting at the café and tasting the food, you also can feel the moods he creates in his photography through hi study of light.

One of Alessio Cocchi’s projects is called symmetry. He explained interestingly that the idea of perfection has always been for him an enemy to fight against. It is difficult to be perfect and it is difficult even to come close to perfection and symmetry to him is a representation of this. In the past he was teased and ridiculed for his obsession with symmetry. He believed that by creating symmetry in his photography, he could make everything that I photograph become beautiful. He explains with the following “I am a photographer for passion, principle and fame. My nose is crooked, one of my eyes is slightly smaller than the other and one arm, the right one, a bit longer than the left. I am not symmetrical. No one is symmetrical just as no one is perfect. I know that syllogisms are not popular anymore but since they also are symmetrical, I use them very often. I began to see my photography as if it were a syllogism, a palindrome, seeking perfection. Then I came to the realization that perfection does not always mean beauty. Though not necessarily beautiful, perfection does make things interesting and strange.”  Head on down to the art café in Phuket and check out his work.

Watch the video review... 

@ Beach Bar & Restaurant Kata Beach | Phuket Food Review

Recently we visited one of our favorite places on the island, Mai Khao Beach and specifically the gorgeous Sala Resort. This beautiful and well designed boutique resort also has great food.

On this evening we came to Sala to try the new menu from their Italian chef. We always appreciate what Sala Resort tries to do which is why we consider it one of the Best Phuket Restaurants on the island. On this evening we had an infamous Los Angelino with us for the review. It is always great when you can impress the well heeled here in Phuket and Sala Resort got the job done. Check out the details and the dishes from our review in the video attached here. Plenty of beach front dinning going on and some good insight into the point of view from the chef.
Watch the video review...

People drown in Phuket. One culprit for these drownings is the overconsumption of alcohol which we cannot solve here, that is for sure. (don’t drink and swim) but some unlucky souls each season during the low season drown due to rip tides that pull them away from shore. Here is some simple advice

Remain calm. Yes, this seems ridiculous when you are being pulled away from shore but do it anyway. The tide will pull you out but not underwater.
Do not struggle against the tide. The reason most people drown in these situations is that they become exhausted fighting the tide itself.
Call for help is obvious. Try to alert someone nearby
Conserve energy. Mix swimming and floating.
Swim parallel to the beach. Rip tides are not usually that wide so as it pulls you out, you can swim out of it eventually, then swim back calmly outside the rip. Imagine being on a treadmill, instead of trying to fight it, get off one side.

FOR MORE PHUKET ADVICE VISIT THINKPHUKET.COM

Recently, we visited the new Hana restaurant in Surin beach. Our beautiful island needs more great restaurants and what Ashley Walter and his group here at hana is something special. In this review you can see the type of food they offer, something we might call “modern Japanese” it is somewhere between Ferran Adria and typical sushi. That should be enough for most of you to be interested and go check it out as you should. Located on the third floor of the Plaza shopping centre on the main road in Surin, the restaurant is large and comfortable and be sure to accompany the great food with some Sake. See you there.

 Watchthe video review...

One of Phuket best established restaurants, The 9^th floor has always offered consistency, great service and a menu offering excellent European food. 
Offering an al-fresco dining experience on top of a Patong beach building, the experience always leaves their guests happy. When you are arriving there for the first time, you cannot believe the difference between outside and in. once inside, sipping a cocktail and looking at their great wine list and extensive menu, you will be in your own little bit of tropical paradise in a genteel setting. You need to check this one out

 Watch the video review... 

Recently, we visited Higher restaurant which is literally higher than the din below on the infamous Bangla road in Patong. While Bangla Road is known for many things and most of them are unsavory and not for commenting on in this space, great food is certainly not one of them. That has all changed now that Chef Ronnie Macuja is working his magic at the new restaurant on the roof of the Seduction nightclub building. Great food will be had by anyone paying a short visit. Check it out and we will all meet you there. 

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We Phuket types know that finding the perfect steak here in Phuket – or Thailand, for that matter – is fairly difficult. But Sam's Steaks & Grill that is located at Holiday Inn Resort Phuket in Patong is one of the restaurants that keep earning their righteous reputation. Highly ranked on TripAdvisor, this steakhouse not only features quality imported steaks but also has an extensive wine list. Here the culinary experts do a lot of tableside cooking in the restaurant’s lovely ambiance. Think Media team enjoyed a GREAT (both in quantity and quality) dinner that was paired up with excellent service. To get a glimpse of this acclaimed place and see the selection of mouth-watering dishes we tried, go to our website and watch the video review… Then you can decide to visit it for yourself.

Watch the video review...

The way we approach our reviews is to try a varied menu, more than once, and let our varied culinary experience guide us. Our group is formed by distinct food eating types and in this way, we try to cover the gamut of food tastes and give an honest and diverse assessment of the restaurants that we review.

Maurizio is truly a character and we love spending time with him and having some cocktails.

We had a martini while we waited for the evening to begin and for the sun to set. After checking out the menu and perusing the wine list, we got down to business.

We began with a Caprese salad but done in an interesting way, each of the elements were piled into a creative presentation and we dug in. it was delicious, with the olive oil, thick enough to get enough top quality mozzarella in one bite. It came with perfect ingredients and tomato that was just ripe enough. Next we worked on a foie gras duo that was quite tasty and interesting. We were not complaining as the sun was setting, the wine was delicious and we polished off this dish. We then continued with the parmesiana melanzana zucchini, an Old Italian recipe that was expertly explained by Maurizio, expertly prepared by the staff and expertly consumed by me in particular. Try this if you get the chance. The parmesan is cut thick enough to give the proper flavor mix in the mouth. We continued with more wine and then more as we were presented with a squid in fettuccini with tiger prawn, a true dish presenting flavors of Italy, it also comes highly recommended. As it got dark the ambiance at Da Maurizio became more intimate and perfect, we were ready for more pasta as the ravioli was next. We also enjoyed this tremendously as we switched to a red Italian wine from Tuscany. Our guest on this evening was Bart Duykers the Phuket wine expert so we knew we could not go wrong. Finally we finished our main course with a chateaubriand that was perfect in quality and skillfully cooked and left us full but completely satisfied. We continued with some stories as we rested.

We finished up with some desserts that were varied and even more filling and delicious and we continued with a long night ahead of stories and limoncelo as we shared the great stories that Maurizio provided. What a great evening. We can highly recommend this restaurant to all our readers and please visit our website at thinkmediahq.com to see the video review of this great restaurant to understand the ambiance better and please eat and drink well!
Check the video review

When people come to Thailand for a rejuvenating holiday – the phrase even sounds redundant, don’t you think – there is a certain expectation of ‘east meets west’ kind of a deal. To fulfill this need, hotels and spas have become all about pairing up ancient healing techniques with the latest technologies, fitness practices and nutrition information. Especially in areas that are popular amongst tourists, this marriage leads to all kinds of innovative practices and services.

Carrying Linda Meredith  renowned cosmetic line, a Vichy shower room and many more treatment options, Ayurah Wellness Centre at Aleenta aims to be one of the leaders in the spa industry. Their approach is based on the combination of high-tech beauty, luxury and the best of Thai traditions. We paid them a visit in order to find out more about their concept and ended up trying a really cool Oxygen treatment.

With a jellyfish tank dominating the center of the Oxygen treatment room, our impression was that we were in for a deeply relaxing experience. The treatment ended up having a strange effect as well…

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“The French are researching a complex technique, how to properly pour Champagne. In my opinion, they could have saved the millions of euros that the study cost (Mon Dieu) if they had just visited one of the many Nikki Beach Clubs around the world” 

According to the well-paid researchers, the secret is to tilt the glass and let the wine trickle gently down the side. At Nikki Beach they have many, many more strategies than that. In addition to the one mentioned in the quote, there are countless others including the one, popular at Nikki Beach where a whole collection of bottles is not so gently shaken and sprayed in celebration, after being brought out to music and fanfare. As the brand continues to grow around the world, we thought it would be a good time to look back as well as forward and understand the worldwide appeal of the Nikki Beach Club concept...                        
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This month, we have been getting requests from several readers that we discuss venues with different types of food, more menus that are unusual or at least, unique for Phuket. New restaurants there continue to open and close so there is a need to stay on top of the options at the top end of the market. As always, the hope is that you, the reader, will find some common ground with our opinions which will help you find some value in these reviews. Aziamendi is not your average restaurant. Instead, it is one of those places that you read about, the kind of place that falls into the Ferran Adria space of being difficult to review. When critics review places and fawn over it over and over, at some point, no one wants to hear any more. As humans, we seemed more wired to discuss the negative.

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We are working with the premier super Yacht charter company on a series of cultural events out on the water that promise to be magical. What a combo: art, great food and the luxury of the world's finest yachts! These supreme VIP events are a once in a lifetime chance to let all your senses be touched by creativity.