“It was such a beautiful evening,” said guests to Mystic Thai principal Kareena Mahbubani and Select Brands Luxury Portfolio Manager Debra Taylor-Smith as they said their goodbyes. Mahbubani and Taylor-Smith teamed up on Saturday, March 26, to host Night in Thailand — a progressive, seven-course, wine-paired dinner held at the Jamaica Food and Drink Kitchen.

Thai cuisine is one of the most complicated, so it’s challenging to master. Even the simplest of dishes have many ingredients that must work in harmony despite their flavour profiles. Thai cuisine is characterised by sour, sweet, bitter, salty, and spicy flavours. It is also known for its deft use of textures to make each dish dance on the palate.

Night in Thailand began with guests sipping on lemongrass martinis made with Beefeater gin and homemade lemongrass syrup. It was a delicately balanced and mouth-pleasing tipple. If it were not for the fact that there were seven more alcoholic beverages ahead, we reckon folks would have had a difficult time pacing themselves.

As soon as guests got cosy in their seats, Mahbubani and Mystic Thai head chef Kamal Singh had the first course — Tom Kha Soup — on the tables. Tom Kha is a velvety coconut-based soup redolent with Thai chillies and balanced with acidic flavours gained from lime and tomatoes. The soup was paired with a ginger mimosa shot comprised of Torresella prosecco and Stone’s Ginger Wine. The cocktail was bright and crisp and cleansed the palate in between bites allowing an appreciation of each spoonful.

Next was a papaya salad wrap paired with Santa Margherita Rosé. The long beans, Thai basil, cherry tomatoes, green papaya, and lettuce created a fresh and crisp bite that was perfectly accentuated by the rosé’s dry floral aromas and acidity. For the third course, guests were treated to Mystic Thai’s take on a dragon roll. Typically, the crunch of a dragon roll comes from the tempura inside it. However, Mystic Thai enhanced the alluring mouthfeel of the famous maki roll by topping it with ribbons of deep-fried potato. Good thing there were three pieces on the plate because after the first, you quickly went for the next. The Washington State Kung Fu Girl Riesling, with its notes of lime leaf, citrus blossom and alluring minerality, was a perfect pairing for the dragon.

Chicken Pad Thai followed. What would a Thai dinner be without the popular dish? But Mystic Thai’s version was nothing typical. With a lick of truffle oil, Mahbubani and Singh transformed the dish adding deep and satisfying earthiness that created a carnival of umami flavour. The truffle chicken Pad Thai amplified the peppery notes of the Cline Gewürztraminer; the dish played beautifully with the wine’s soft floral aromas and delicate notes of lime and grapefruit.

The green salmon curry was a triumph! Rich coconut cram was the perfect vehicle to make the herbaceous notes of Thai basil, cilantro, lemongrass, and galangal (an aromatic root in the ginger and turmeric family) swell to an epic crescendo. If the evening were an opera, the green salmon curry would have been the aria. Brava! The Hahn Pinot Noir could barely hold its own against the moreish green curry. However, it’s a delightfully medium-bodied wine bursting with blackberry, pomegranate, red fruit notes, and a spicy aroma.

Crispy sesame lamb was the sixth course, and the nutty, spicy and sweet flavours of the crispy dish paired beautifully with the Argentinian Malbec from El Enegmigo. You can depend on the Argentinians to have a wine that pairs beautifully with any meal where red meat is the star. The Malbec was full-bodied and had delightful dark stone fruit and delicate floral notes. It paved the way for the final course — chocolate.

You could say there were two chocolate desserts — Mystic Thai’s chocolate mousse and Select Brand’s El Dorado rum cream slide topped with homemade cinnamon syrup. The torched cinnamon sticks, used as a garnish, imitated black pepper and cardamom that were lovely complements to the rich chocolate mousse.

People didn’t want to go home, and Thursday Food didn’t blame them because Mystic Thai and Select Brands took guests on a journey. And who wants to come home after vacation?