People talk and the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok listens. This is probably the reason why the World Gourmet Festival gets better every year.

The Nation's wine critic JC Eversole once suggested the festival place more emphasis on wine. So, organisers are flying in Robert Joseph Jr, one of the world's foremost authorities on wine, for the September 10 to 17 event.

Michelin-star chef David Thompson recommended that fusion chef Peter Gordon of the Providores in London be invited to this year's fete. He's now on the line-up.

TV-show host Rapeephan Luangaramrat raved about William Ledeuil's Ze Kitchen Galerie after a trip to Paris. Ledeuil, who's at the forefront of modern French cuisine, is also on the roster.

As in years' past, the Four Seasons is showcasing rising stars, chefs on the cusp of fame, to compliment supernovas like Michael Mina, whose Michael Mina is one of San Francisco's finest restaurants, and whose Bellagio, Seablue and Nobhill have turned Las Vegas into a gourmand's destination.

Once again, the Four Seasons is giving the chefs carte blanche to create what they want for their dinners and cooking classes. The hotel is overseeing the gala dinner on September 14 so each chef's dishes complement one another.

"Last year was the year of the squab. This year, the focus is on fusion," says Nicolas Schneller, executive chef at the Four Seasons Bangkok.

In addition to the tons of exotic ingredients that Schneller has ordered for the event, he has also commissioned the manufacture of 250 conical-lidded tangine plates so Paris-based Moroccan chef Fatema Hal can make her tangine lamb with eggplant, green olives and preserved lemon.

Food-and-beverage director Lubosh Barta has convinced glassware manufacturer Schott Zwiesel to fly 3,000 pieces of stemware in for the gala dinner. Barta expects to serve 12,600 glasses of wine through the week.

Joseph, co-founder of the Wine International magazine, will host a women's-only session covering the basics of wine appreciation at 2pm on September 15. He will also hold an advanced wine-appreciation class at 2pm on September 16.

The remainder of the wine will be poured at the week's 7.30pm dinners, 2pm afternoon teas, and the 12.30pm and 6.30pm cooking classes.

This year's festival line-up includes:

l Michael Mina of Bellagio, Seablue and Nobhill in Las Vegas, who was named Chef of the Year in 2005 by Bon Appetit magazine. He's known for his fish dishes and miniature variations on a main ingredient, reminiscent of Pierre Gagnaire. Mina likes to "keep everything as clean and simple as possible, while using exciting flavours, styles and presentations".

On September 12 and 13, his dishes will include miso-glazed Chilean sea bass, butter poached lobster, and roasted Kobe beef.

l Sarah Schafer of Frisson in San Francisco specialises in contemporary American cuisine with an international palette. Her dishes on September 10 and 11 will include foie gras with spicy peanut butter and pear-and-black pepper compote, mirin- and miso-glazed Alaskan halibut and marjoram-and-hazelnut dusted rack of lamb.

l Marco Talamini, of La Torre di Splimbergo in Italy, earned his first Michelin star at Ristorante Bacco Tabacco di Asolo in Treviso province and another at Cibernetico in Padova. He opened La Torre in 2000. His September 15 and 16 menu includes sea-bass tartar on warm zucchini cream and black squid-ink ravioli with vegetable ragout and sweet red-pepper foam.

l Fatema Hal, of Mansouria in Paris, has been the leading proponent of Moroccan food in France since the mid-1980s. She will cook traditional dishes on September 11 and 12. Among them will be spicy shrimp biwatte, fish tangine and gazelle horn with sesame seeds.

l William Ledeuil, of Ze Kitchen Galerie in Paris, creates French food with a Southeast Asian twist. On September 15 and 16, his dishes will include sea bass with seaweed and watercress dressing, and grilled lobster and mussels with a lime-crustacean sauce.

l Geoff Lindsay, of Pearl Restaurants in Melbourne and Hong Kong, says he's "an Aussie seduced by ginger, chilli and palm sugar". His September 15 and 16 menu includes watermelon, marinated feta cheese and sunflower shoot salad and barramundi with gingered wong bak, lup cheong and shiitake.

l Peter Gordon, of Providores in London, says his fusion food reflects his New Zealand roots and his love for Southeast Asian cuisine. Among his dishes on September 12 and 13 are scallop sashimi with watermelon and venison on kumara-miso mash.

l Yoshii Ryuichi, of Yoshii Restaurant in Sydney, is known for his combination of taste, texture and temperature sensations. His menu on September 12 and 13 includes tuna sashimi marinated in white truffle oil and miso lamb chop dengaku.

l Ruth Van Waerebeek-Gonzalez, of Concha y Toro in Chile, cooked in Europe and the US before becoming winemaker Concha y Toro's official chef. Her September 15 and 16 menu includes a variety of cerviches, a scallop-and-salmon mousse and Chilean empanaditas.

l Emily Luchetti, of Farallon in San Francisco, helped open legendary Stars restaurant in San Francisco in 1984 before joining Farallon in 1997. Among the dozen items she'll make for her September 16 and 17 afternoon teas are apple Napoleons with cinnamon cream, angel food cake with lemon curd and chocolate tartlets with caramel chocolate filling.

l Michael Ginor, of Hudson Valley Foie Gras in New York, is the largest foie gras producer in the world. For his seventh appearance at the festival, on September 11, he will prepare terrine of foie gras and eel, poached lobster and seared foie gras, and roasted squab and foie gras.

l Vincent Bourdin, of Valrhona Chocolates, has been making pastries for more than two decades.

He will host an afternoon tea on September 14 and 15.

l Pitak Srichan, of the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, will cook a Thai dinner on September 16.

l Philippe Agnese, of the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok, will prepare afternoon tea on September 12.

Each visiting chef will host a 12.30 or 6.30pm cooking class in addition to a pair of dinners. All will participate in the gala dinner on September 14, which benefits HRH Princess Soamsavali's "Save a Child's Life from Aids Project".

Call (02) 250 1000 or e-mail wgf.bangkok@

fourseasons.com for tickets.

Hal Lipper

The Nation