Khun Vinai Sookma
Special skill: Fruit, Vegetable and Ice Carving
Vinai is the son of a farmer in Central Thailand. He served a long apprenticeship with the famous Club Med of Phuket where he was trained as a specialist in both vegetable and fruit carving and ice carving. He soon became, due to his immense talent, responsible for all the carvings of the huge daily buffet, the speciality of the Club Med Phuket. He also attended the Khao Wandee cooking school in Bangkok and became dessert chef, joining the Blue Elephant Group in 1996. Under the banner of the group, he has carved and cooked his way around the world from Dubai to Venezuela.

His exquisite creations, made from the simplest of fruits and vegetables are in great demand in the London circle, and very often Khun Vinai is requested by the official Tourism Authority of Thailand to demonstrate his carving skills in their various exhibitions and promotions. Apart from carving which he excels at, Khun Vinai is also an outstanding sugar spinner.

Surely enough, every Sunday afternoon, he delights and fascinates the diners at the Blue Elephant with his amazing display of spinning sugar and creating all sorts of magical objects, like animals, sea life and flowers with softened sugar crystals, which are not only incredibly life-like, but also delicious to eat!