Rose water, chamomile and lavender will appear across five courses at Regent Phu Quoc this November, alongside sculptural flowers and a live ensemble of harp, violin, flute, accordion and percussion. The setting is the resort’s lagoons and gardens on Long Beach, on the western coast of Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island.
Regent has announced Taste Studio 2026: The Memory of Flowers for 21 and 22 November, with just 42 guests each evening. Executive Chef Francesco Andreoni will lead the menu, floral artist Rose Cao will create installations, and Vietnamese visual artist Pham Tuan Ngoc will present the photographic work that gives the event its name.
The resort has timed the two-night programme to the beginning of the island’s dry season. For travellers planning a stay, it brings a specific occasion to a beach escape: dinner, botanical cocktails and an introduction to two artists working with flowers in very different ways.
Seven acts around the gardens and lagoons
The evening follows the Vietnamese philosophy of harmony between Thiên, Địa and Nhân: Heaven, Earth and Humanity. Its seven acts are grouped into those three themes, beginning with Earth, continuing through five Humanity acts and ending with Heaven.
Cocktails by J Frank, Regent Phu Quoc’s Director of Bars, will open the programme. Made with botanicals from the island, they will be served among Cao’s sculptural installations, with live bouquet artistry and music from harp and flute.
The Conservatory is the named venue, with the wider programme unfolding across a series of transformed spaces around the resort. Dinner occupies the central acts; the finale brings together Ngoc’s art, illuminated floral works and further music over post-dinner cocktails and digestifs.
Taste Studio began at Regent Phu Quoc in April 2023, making this its fifth edition. Earlier events explored Vietnamese folklore and maritime heritage, while November 2025’s A Spectrum of Contrasts combined dining with visual art, choreography, music and Vietnamese paper art. Flowers now provide the connection between the food, installations and photography.
Rose water, chamomile and A5 Wagyu
Andreoni’s five-course menu progresses from fragrant, delicate flavours to richer, earthier ones. Three dishes announced for the evening show how floral ingredients are used: dry-aged hamachi accompanied by rose water and pink pomelo; scallop cooked over binchotan with chamomile beurre blanc; and A5 Wagyu served with a jus of koji, lavender and cardamom.
Flowers appear in the menu’s sauces and seasonings, carrying the dinner’s theme into its dishes. Rose water accompanies the fish and pomelo; the scallop’s beurre blanc incorporates chamomile; and the Wagyu jus brings lavender together with cardamom.
Andreoni brings two decades of culinary experience to the resort, having worked in kitchens in Milan, Paris, Chicago, Melbourne and southern Switzerland. Wines named for the evening include Billecart-Salmon, Château Le Conte and Vega Sicilia.
The ensemble will reinterpret contemporary melodies throughout the programme, using its combination of strings, woodwind, accordion and subtle percussion. That musical accompaniment continues into the final act, after the five courses have been served.
Rose Cao’s sculptural flowers
Cao will create both sculptural installations and illuminated floral works for the event, with live bouquet artistry included in the opening act. Her flowers will shape the spaces where guests gather for cocktails and return as part of the closing programme.
Her Chelsea connection comes from Light Dance, a lamp-post installation that received a Silver award at the 2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. She also received a Silver Medal at the Singapore Garden Festival in 2016.
Cao says she began professional floral-design study in Singapore in 2014 and founded Rose Cao Floral Design in Vietnam in 2017. Her community crowdfunded her journey to Chelsea, and her wider practice includes workshops, online floristry education and botanical design.
For Taste Studio, guests will encounter that practice through both the finished installations and the live bouquet work. The opening’s harp and flute accompaniment will give way to the fuller ensemble later in the evening.
Flowers photographed without a camera
Ngoc’s The Memory of Flowers exhibition opened at Regent Phu Quoc’s Gallery on 1 July 2026, bringing together more than thirty photographs, including the series Chloris Immortal and Chloris Reincarnation. Maison Jade Art Consultancy organised the exhibition with support from Noirfoto Gallery.
Ngoc makes the images by laying flowers on photosensitive paper, then exposing the paper to sunlight. As light, heat and humidity act on its silver chloride, the flowers wilt and leave an imprint; no camera is used. The particular flower, material and exposure conditions shape each work.
Explaining his approach to the exhibition, Ngoc said that “art must hold three things in balance — an idea, the technique to give it form, and beauty.” His choice of lumen printing makes the flowers themselves part of the photographic process, leaving their impressions directly on the light-sensitive surface.
Ngoc will present his flower works during the dinner’s finale alongside Lou Anmella-de Montalembert, founder and curator of Maison Jade Art Consultancy. A demonstration of his technique is also planned, giving guests a closer understanding of how the images are made.
Cao’s illuminated installations will accompany this final act, with the live ensemble, cocktails and digestifs closing the evening.
A suite or private-pool villa on Long Beach
Regent Phu Quoc opened in April 2022 and faces the Gulf of Thailand. Its suites and villas offer a base for extending the dinner into a longer stay, with six dining outlets, a spa and wellness facilities at the resort.
The Ocean View Suite spans 78 square metres and has a furnished terrace, walk-in closet, rain shower, soaking bathtub and double vanity. Private-pool villa options overlook the ocean, gardens or resort lagoons, giving guests a choice of outlook as well as accommodation style.
Oku, the resort’s signature restaurant, serves contemporary Japanese-French cuisine through its Omakase Atelier and Salon de Boeuf.
Phu Quoc International Airport is 17 kilometres from the property, with the resort estimating a drive of approximately 15 minutes. Private chauffeur transfers can be arranged. Suite rates start from US$650 per night, and villa rates from US$1,050 per night.
How to book Taste Studio 2026
The Memory of Flowers takes place on 21 and 22 November 2026 at 6pm, with 42 places per evening. The dinner is priced at US$190++ per guest; ask for the final payable total and inclusions when reserving. Accommodation is priced separately.
The requested dress code is “Resort Chic with a Floral Touch.” Dinner reservations can be made by emailing dining.regentpq@ihg.com. For suite or villa enquiries and arrangements for the wider stay, contact regent.phuquoc@ihg.com.
