PATTAYA HAS ITS OWN IRON CHEF – PAOLO AT MARCOS
Paolo has only been in Pattaya since September 2016 and had been working in Vietnam at the prestigious 5 star Diamond Island in Ho Chi Minh City when his cousin Marco called him up with an offer he couldn’t refuse ! Marco had already had a successful business with a restaurant in the Rompho Market but said that if Paolo would join him he would expand and instead go into a premises on “the road of good restaurants” – Thappraya road
With an Italian father, a French Mother and hailing from Paris it is of course no wonder that Paolo is a great chef. However he did not always set out to be. Upon leaving school his plan was to become a photographer although his parents had other ideas and wanted him to go into the law.So before agreeing to go study law he took a year out and went on a cooking course. From an early age he had always cooked with his mother but after the course he “got the bug” and from thereon in decided a career as a chef would be for him.
Another early passion was that of travelling and Paolo took his first trip to Asia at the age of 19 He had already had a holiday in Pattaya and so easily made up his mind, when Marco made the fateful call to get him involved in the family business. Marco himself being no slouch in the kitchen having graduated from a professional pizza course in Italy Paolo admits that it was Marco who taught him how to cook pizzas in the traditional way.
Fast forward to this year when a programme called Iron Chef came to Paolo’s attention. It is a cookery series extremely popular 
throughout Asia and especially in Thailand. The basic premise is that a challenger must battle it out with one of the programme’s own Iron Chefs and when Paolo heard about it he said “I just had to go on” Although quietly spoken and seemingly very calm you can see that Paolo gets very passionate where food is concerned.
The filming was in Bangkok,our own challenger from Pattaya had a choice of 3 Resident “Iron Chefs” to compete against. He chose Chef Gai from The Dusit Thani Hotel..a Cordon Bleu graduate, a pastry specialist and certainly no pushover. During the programme – which can still be viewed on You Tube: “Ironchef.Thailand, Season 5 Episode 35”, the chefs had to compete by cooking 5 different dishes during the 1 hour programme. The theme of this particular episode was strawberries and in a frenzied start each contestant had to quickly grab as many as possible to use in their cooking. I believe that in most of the Iron Chef episodes the resident team win the day but Paolo wowed the judges with his imaginative use of “silver” with strawberries for his first dish. He then went on to outshine Chef Gai with amazing creations such as Japanese Tea Time” and “Strawberry Tuscany” and with his brilliant visual presentation and mixing of sweet with savory was an outstanding winner.
So now you can see with Paolo’s help that the menu at Marco’s is constantly changing and of course it is no surprise that there is an increased choice of desserts.
During the Trader’s visit Paolo treated us to some fabulous plates:
Beef Tartare – with the most amazing crispy eggplant and Plaice with melt in the mouth hollandaise sauce and Baba Ganoush
The great thing about ordering pasta at Marco’s is that you can choose from a choice of Penne, Spaghetti, Tagliatele, Gnocchi, Ravioli and Tortellini. You can then select an accompanying sauce from Tomato, Bolognese, Mushroom Cream, Carbonara, Arrabbiata, Gorgonzola, Amatriciana or Clams I’m also a big fan of their Baked Pasta dishes but for this trip I wanted to try the Gnocchi gorgonzola – hardly a dish for the most weight conscious – it is in my mind, a good marker for all authentic Italian restaurants as the Gnocchi have to be soft (but not mushy) and of course home made. Also the gorgonzola sauce must be creamy and just a little piquant …………..Marco’s ticked every box
You will also not be surprised, after having read this article. to hear that the desserts were to die for:
Rhubarb batons with mascarpone ice cream and crumble and slow cooked baby bananas with warm vanilla cream
MARCO’S ALREADY HAS AN AMAZING CHRISTMAS DAY MENU:
Oysters served with a wonderful Taragon, sour cream and salmon eggs accompaniment
Pumpkin confit with cheese and pickles
Pan fried scallops with mango coullis
Sea Bass with Lemon Sauce and Sweet Chilli
Wild Duck
Dark/white chocolate pie
They only have room for 50 covers so book early! And this includes a:
GREAT UPSTAIRS SPACE WITH EXCELLENT LIGHT AND BALCONY.
AFFORDS SEATING FOR UP TO 20 PEOPLE SHOULD YOU WANT PRIVATE DINING
Marco’s is on 306/94 Thappraya road, Moo 12, Pattaya@marcospattaya
Call 092 475 1493 Open 12:00 – 00:00