Sri Lanka : Embassy promotes Sri Lankan culinary arts in the US

Embassy promotes Sri Lankan culinary arts in the US by Embassy of Sri Lanka, USA Mar 10, 2010
Tuesday, 2nd March, the iconic Time Warner Center in New York witnessed a rare opportunity, where a spicy Sri Lankan feast enticing a large gathering of top executives from the American corporate world. The unique culinary evening, staged by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington D.C. follows a week-long Sri Lanka food promotions held at the World Bank. Joined with the Embassy in hosting this unprecedented event were Restaurant Associates (RA), a leading caterer with operations over hundreds of prestigious locations across the United States and the national carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines. The spectacular three course Sri Lankan meal hosted by the Embassy and RA for as many as fifty New York-based executives, was put together by Chefs Gerard Mendis and Madhawa Weerabaddhana, two master chefs specially flown in by the Embassy. “We were so happy to do this for our motherland” remarked the chefs while explaining their menu to the diners. Delighted with the outcome, Restaurant Associates President, Mr. Edward Sirhal said that his company was seriously looking into the possibility of making Sri Lanka food promotions a regular calendar event, preferably with a longer duration. “The terror waged by LTTE for nearly three decades are now confined to the history and Sri Lanka, once again, is gaining attention as a premier destination for trade, investment and tourism in South Asia”, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Palitha Kohona pointed out in his opening remarks. He also added that the Embassy in Washington DC was successful in attracting about forty US entrepreneurs to the island last October, while the number of tourist arrivals in 2010 January saw a staggering 36% growth over the corresponding period in 2009. “These are very clear signs that Sri Lanka in moving in the right direction” highlighted Dr. Kohona. Promotion of Sri Lankan cuisine is the latest in the series of events the Commercial Section of the Embassy has been organizing in the recent past under the supervision of Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya in projecting the island’s image among the US public.