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SCMP Reporter

ORGANISERS of the Wan Chai Food and Entertainment Extravaganza have a simple message this year - ''get stuffed''.

  For the first time, Suzy Wong country joins Hongkong's annual cauldron of culinary treats from around the world - the Hongkong Food Festival.

  Up to 50 booths, representing the restaurants and venues of Wan Chai, will feature a variety of the foods available in the area.

  La Boheme, located in the heart of Wan Chai, and run by the brother-sister team of managing director Mrs Luciana Hubert and chef Mr Michele De Felice, has established itself as one of Hongkong's premier Italian restaurants.

  It will have one of the booths and promises a varied menu, ranging from tantalising beef dishes to pasta.

  Mr De Felice said the festival would be a good chance to educate people about Italian food.

  ''I find that most Chinese people have a very limited perception of Italian food. They go to the fast-food places which sell spaghetti and they believe that that is as far as Italian food goes.

  ''But when they come to our restaurant, they realise how diverse and fantastic the food is.''     The Extravaganza will feature food from Asia, including Indian food from The Curry Pot and Viceroy of India restaurants, Malaysian and Indonesian specialties from Chinta, Thai food from Baan Thai and a broad spectrum of Asian delicacies from The GoldenPalette.

   European food will be served up by Delifrance, Harry Ramsden's, Oliver's Sandwiches and Italian from La Boheme and Jaffe's at the Century Hotel.

  North American hamburgers and fast food will also be available from Wendy's.

  Japanese food will also make an appearance thanks to Orba, which will be serving sushi and sashimi.

  Although much of the Asian food will be prepared on the spot, other dishes will be carried to the site from the restaurant's kitchens.

  An unusual element will be added by the environmental working model, where restaurants will display environmentally friendly catering techniques.

  ''Friends of the Earth have co-ordinated this section and it will be an example of how restaurants can be more friendly to the environment,'' said organiser Mr Mark Thompson.

  The Frog Pond, one of the guest restaurants invited from Central, will be taking part. Food will be served on banana leaves, cooked in bamboo steamers and eaten with bamboo chopsticks - saving on plastic and throwaway items.

   San Miguel will also run a competition for those taking their cups back to be refilled.

  Mr Thompson said that the use of ''green'' tools and equipment was not appropriate to all the restaurants involved in the project. But the educational element would be an attraction, he said.

  The Wan Chai part of the festival falls on the day before the Rugby Sevens tournament and has been designed to lure both international and local support.

  ''We expect about 10,000 people on the night, including local office workers, tourists here for the Sevens and the food festival, and anyone interested in food and beverages,'' he said,.

  Since the tragic events in Lan Kwai Fong on New Year's Eve, crowd control has been carefully organised with the appropriate authorities.

  Street performers, including mime artists, would come from Wan Chai's Academy for Performing Arts and the Arts Centre, to help make the event a truly local display, said Mr Thompson.

  ''It should be a really fun night out and we won't cancel, even if it rains. We don't want people to go home,''Mr Thompson said.



Wan Chai preparing culinary delights from around the world