Chef Alex Garés wants to spice up your holiday in Koh Samui

Alex Garés is not your typical chef. He is so passionate about authentic Thai cuisine that to ensure visitors to Koh Samui get a taste of it, he is offering to be your dining companion for the night.

Dining in inexpensive local eateries chosen for authenticity, this Spanish native orders dishes (at times off-menu) in fluent Thai, and has an in-depth knowledge of the ingredients of every dish.

There is a catch - you need to be a guest at the Four Seasons Resort, Koh Samui, where he is the executive chef, to snag a dinner date with him, if his schedule permits.

"I think that in the three years I have been in Koh Samui, I have eaten everywhere. I eat Thai food the majority of the time, and I only go back to restaurants with true Thai food," says Garés.

He is equally insistent about the authenticity of his own menu at KOH, Thai Kitchen & Bar, which opened at the resort in December 2013.

"I will not compromise on spice. If a dish traditionally has a certain spice level, that is how it comes. If a diner does not want that level of spice I will suggest another Thai dish that is inherently less spicy," says Garés enthusiastically.