Chef-a-gogo goes to Danang

I met a wonderful chef last weekend at Life resort in Danang. Chef Shane Brierly hails from New Zealand but has spent serious time in Sydney, Tasmania, Dubai, Thailand and now Vietnam. And in a hotel where nothing much stood out, Shane was a real ray of light. "I love to travel, to cook, to open my eyes and mind to the world around me and fill my senses with the world and its beauty, imperfections, trials and tribulations", he says on his blog, but a look at his menu and a bit of a sampling show you his passion. I have a theory whenever I visit a new restaurant. Rather than order the more adventurous things on the menu, I order a simple thing, like a Caesar Salad or a Gumbo in Asia - and if they can ace that, I will work up the menu. Shane's Caesar was not only interestingly presented, it was spot on for flavour. And how many chef's can't get that right? Hundreds. Literally hundreds. So we enjoyed his presentation of handmade, while you watch, lemongrass liquid Nitrogen ice cream, the first in Vietnam - and then worked our way through the menu for the rest of the weekend. Shane's Chef-a-Gogo blog is here. Check it out for recipes and fun to follow.