Have you ever heard of Thai wine, Thai rum or Thai Whiskey? Well, neither had I until a visit to Silk Thai Cuisine to sample some of the restaurant's new offerings.

Silk Thai Cuisine owner and Frescos Group restaurateur Claudio Vigilante decided that as a way to further authenticate the Thai dining experience, he would only bring in wines, rum and beer from the region and revampt Silk's already delectable menu.

Some of the wines are from California, while others are from Thailand.

"The wine is made in California, by two Thai guys (father and son Somchai and Kenny Likitprakong of Hobo and Banyan Wines) and it blends in and compliments spicy food," Mr. Vigilante said.

"Then you have the Lychee wine and then the Monsoon Valley Thai wines. On top of that we have the Thai Whiskey and the Thai Rum."

Mr. Vigilante first tried the Monsoon Valley wines when he was on a visit to London and the wines are vintage dated in the Buddhist Era 2548. "We have had a few people trying the Lychee wine. Bermudians, West Indians and everyone agrees that it is such a smooth vintage," he said.

"The reason I went looking is because I couldn't find anyone who brought it in, so we decided that we needed a wine that was complimentary to the foods.

"We aim to be a traditional Thai restaurant and I contacted someone in the States and then I got someone in Thailand who could send it to me. It is part of the tradition and, obviously in Thailand they don't drink much wine, but the alcohol that they drink, it is traditional to have it with food."

Silk Thai Cuisine was voted by Condé Nast as one of the best new restaurants in the world in 2005, but Mr. Vigilante is not one to rest on his laurels. "For us it is important to keep up the momentum and keep your product fresh," he said, "And that involves researching what is out there."

Asked if he had sampled some of the new wine selections in other Thai restaurants, Mr. Vigilante replied: "I went to the big Wine Museum in London and there was a wine tasting that day about Thai Wines, because they have had great reviews in the British press.

"When I tried it, I kind of liked it, so I found a way to get it over here. So, it is exciting and I wanted to introduce it to my clientele."

On the Thai rum front, once it arrived, a group of Bermudian guys, who had spent time in Thailand, came in and pretty much drank the whole bottle, he said.

"It usually goes with coconut water and we are trying to bring that in at the moment," Mr. Vigilante added.

Aromatic pork, chicken and shrimp flavoured dumplings are just one of the appetiser samplings on the new menu.

"The thing about Thai food is that the flavours are so delicate and the food is light, chili with cilantro, it is all fresh."

New to the menu is the Massaman Curry with tuna. "This is the first time that a dish like this has been produced in Bermuda, because no one has the Massaman paste. We ran out within the week and we had to bring more in.

"Thai food is so eclectic, it is so varied, you have the South, you have the islands — it is kind of like being Italian — some use butter and some use olive oil, but the Southerners don't know what butter looks like."

They also have introduced Thai Fish Cakes, and Mr. Vigilante explained that they are doing their best to use local produce.

"We are using wahoo and there is no potatoes or flour, but they put green beans in it and cilantro.

"And when you taste it, you will find a lot of flavours. We wanted to have a Bermudian element to it and when we had the Condé Nast best restaurant of the world thing, they commented on the fact that we were using Bermudian products.

"It was well received and I want to carry on with that."

Another addition to the menu is the desserts, of one in particular he said: "We have a Green Tea Tiramisu and we make our own green tea ice cream and instead of the cocoa powder, we use the green tea powder in top, so it has an aromatic flavour to it."

For coffee connoisseurs, there is Kopi Luwak, which is one of the most exclusive coffees in the world.

When asked if he thought that there was really a need to revamp the menu, he replied: "I think there was a need for everybody, from the staff to the customers to create a little bit more buzz.

"If the staff get excited, the regulars get interested. I was afraid that it was going to become a bit of a routine, 'Let's go to Silk for the same thing.'

"But this makes people discover a little bit more. So we sat down and had a brainstorm between all of us and we all researched it and everyone came back with ideas.

"And this is what it is all about, it is about everybody coming together."