Culinary Blog

The salons of the Raffles Hotel Le Royal recently played host to the much-anticipated competition for Cambodia’s best sommelier. After a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, the much-anticipated national event finally returned in 2023, showcasing the growing demand for wine experts in Cambodia.   We were thrilled to have Eden Gnean, President of the Cambodia Sommelier Association and General Manager at Topaz Restaurants, answered our questions at this fantastic event where Thalias shine again with the podium welcoming our manager of Khéma Pasteur, Sok Nisong.  We’d love to hear more about this competition  This is the seventh year we’ve had the pleasure of organizing this incredible event. The best Sommelier competition was first held in 2013, and it was a huge success. I was absolutely thrilled to win the competition a few years ago at Topaz. Then, after the competition in Siem Reap, we had to pause all activity due to the pandemic. And the great news is that the association was just reformed in February this year, so we’re starting afresh! The standard is incredibly high, and the exams are extremely challenging, but the candidates are doing great.  How many candidates did you have, were they all certified sommelier graduates?  We had 14 amazing individuals in total! We’re excited to see more Cambodian nationals certified as sommeliers soon! But the great news is that some of them have already taken the WSET Level 2, which is the fantastic wine and spirits training course that CSA organized a few months ago. And it’s a real mix of people, with supervisors, bartenders, managers and F&B managers taking part. They’re all passionate about wine.  Do you think Cambodia would benefit from having more sommelier?  Absolutely! It’s a vital role with so much potential. It’s a truly humble profession, and I’m excited to see where it’ll go next. It’s our job to make sure that the wine we recommend to customers goes perfectly with the dish they’re eating, that it fits their budget, and that we pass on the message, the story of the winemaker, to them. We don’t have a sommelier school in Cambodia yet, but the Cambodia Sommelier Association is setting up certified courses in Cambodia, and we have an amazing plan for the next two years. We’re going to bring some international wine specialists to Cambodia, and we’re so excited about it! I’m absolutely thrilled to have such fantastic partners, sponsors and board members who are all working so hard.  I’d also like to thank Thalias, who provided us with all the resources we need to make this event a roaring success. And I’d like to thank all the CSA board members, who worked tirelessly to ensure that we set a standard for Cambodia in this competition. We We were also delighted to welcome Mr Tommy Lam from Singapore. He’s the driving force behind many competitions in Southeast Asia and China. I think we has a fantastic combination. I would like to thank all the participants for their amazing efforts, commitment and courage. They have the confidence to take part in this incredible competition because it’s a great experience for them. I think the competition itself is a fantastic source of inspiration for them and encourages them to keep learning. Together with the association, we will be organizing other amazing activities in 2025, and we would like to thank the media and all those who supported this competition.  Subscribe to Thalias Newsletter: Enjoy exclusive offers, event invitations, and culinary insights. Subscribe Here   Discover More: For a deeper dive into our culinary universe. Visit Our Website  

At 22, Carla Alves has just completed her journalism internship in Cambodia with Thalias Hospitality group. A significant and challenging experience for this law and international relations student, who is looking forward to returning to the Kingdom at the end of her studies for a new professional experience.  Interview  Tell us a little about yourself  My name is Carla, or should I say Sreyroth (ស្រីរ័ត្ន). This was the Khmer first name given to me by some of the staff at Khéma Pasteur, a Thalias Group restaurant, shortly after my arrival in Cambodia. In the end, most people ended up calling me by that name.   I’m Franco-Hispano-Portuguese and originally from a small village in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France. I began my studies at a university in Lyon, which I shall now continue in Paris. And now I’m leaving the Kingdom of Cambodia after a three-month internship with the Thalias Hospitality group.   What brought you to Cambodia?  I think it has a lot to do with my family, my family environment. I come from a very multicultural family in which, growing up and still today, I was lucky enough to hear about Cambodia from those around me. At the beginning, I had received internship offers in South Korea, the Philippines and Spain, without having yet received any feedback from the applications I had sent to Cambodia. And so, at that point, I took the risk of declining the offers I’d received while waiting for my applications in Cambodia, without being sure of being selected. But I have no regrets, because fate worked out well.  Why did you choose Thalias and Cambodge Mag in particular?  You’re right. To be honest, I chose Thalias and Cambodge Mag in particular to challenge myself. I knew that, thanks to this internship, I’d be able to further develop my knowledge of Cambodia, as well as my skills in writing, project management and event management in general. And all this is linked to my various commitments to associations and collectives in France as a volunteer.  I’m particularly involved with “Banh Mi Media”, a medium founded by Linda Nguon that highlights Asian and Western heritages and cultures, as well as inspiring life stories linked to Asia, through videos, podcasts and events. And I’ll also be volunteering for PSE from France in September.  So it’s very important for me and I hope to be able to be more versatile thanks to this experience. And of course, the conditions offered to me by the Thalias group throughout my stay in Cambodia were also very decisive in my choice.   Can you tell us more about your internship conditions?  Well, I never thought I’d ever have a placement of this magnitude. First of all, I’d really like to emphasize the support provided by the Thalias Human Resources team. In particular, I’m very grateful to Bong Settha and Bong Samrach, who have been there for me and made my time here so much easier.  After that, the Thalias Hospitality group also supported me throughout my stay by taking care of my accommodation. What really touched me, and it’s very important for me to say this, was the presence of the group’s employees and especially the security guards at the hotel where I was staying.  As part of my internship, I often travelled alone to events, and I sometimes left Phnom Penh to go to the provinces for professional reasons. And most of the time, they all knew where I was going, what time I could potentially be back, and constantly asked me to be careful. Whenever I addressed them, I called them “uncle”, “ពូ” in Khmer, so I’m very grateful for everything they did for me every day and I have deep respect for them.  And then, of course, I’m particularly grateful to Mr. DARC who first of all allowed me to join his group as an intern, but also, for all these conditions that gave me a unique professional experience.   Were there any professional highlights during your internship?  Every event I attended, every moment spent with a person, was very special and unique.  To be honest, all the interviews I’ve done have left their mark on me, so I couldn’t single one out over another.  But if I had to share some events or moments that particularly marked me… I’d say the France-Cambodia 2024 Business Forum was very enriching.  The 13th Cambodia International Film Festival, where I interviewed Chris PARKHURST, director of “Elvis of Cambodia: The Legacy of Sinn Sisamouth”, as well as young filmmakers from the Bophana Center who had made short films about daily life in Cambodia.  Thanks to this event, I learned more about Cambodian culture, the country’s history and the cinematic landscape here in the Kingdom.  I also took a tour of the Kantha Bopha Hospitals’ departments alongside its General Manager, Denis LAURENT, whom I interviewed twice. Firstly, as a painter at an art exhibition at the Sofitel, and secondly, in the context of his main profession, which is in the medical field. This visit was very meaningful for me.  And finally, the Coastal Culinary Dinner between Amber Kampot and Topaz Norodom in Kampot. On this occasion, I was able to meet Bong Sopheak POV, Executive Chef of the Topaz Norodom restaurant, and learn about his background and the aspirations he had for Cambodia as a chef. It was very inspiring.     What did you learn during this experience in Cambodia as an intern, and what lessons did you draw from it?  Well, maybe it’s more a personal evolution than a professional learning as such, but I learned to be “less introverted”. In fact, I’m quite reserved and I don’t often dare approach someone for fear of disturbing them. And here, thanks to this course, the fact of constantly going out to meet others and having to initiate the exchange most of the time, has helped me a lot to “come out of my shell”, if I can put it like that. All in all, the field of this internship was quite new to me, so thanks … Read more