Strictly for the guys

THEME CAFES have been around for a while in cuteness-crazy Bangkok, most of them, like the very pink Hello Kitty in Siam Square and Sirotan, which is dedicated to the cartoon Japanese seal, designed to appeal to the fairer sex.

Now, though, the men are getting a few places to call their own, with the opening of car-themed cafes in the downtown area.

Luxury automaker Mercedes Benz recently revealed its new marketing and sales strategy “Mercedes Benz 2020 – Best Customer Experience” by launching its first pop-up Mercedes Benz Cafe in Thailand following on from successful experiences in Berlin, Paris, Milan, New York, Beijing and Tokyo. 

Located on the first floor of newly revamped Emporium shopping complex, the cafe is both car showroom and restaurant. Spread over 510 square metres, the interior has been designed by award-winning architect Winai Chairakpong and creatively combines the latest automotive displays and informative digital presentations with culinary experiences and lifestyle events.

“Mercedes-Benz always wants to offer its customers the best and our ‘best customer experience’ campaign is designed to facilitate individual encounters with the customer from the initial contact through advice and test drive to the purchase and after-sales service. We’re working with a multi-channel approach, which flexibly links a great number of different sales forms and the classic Mercedes-Benz showrooms,” explains Michael Grewe, president and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz Thailand. 

Divided into three sections, the venue is home to a car lounge equipped with i-showroom screens where you can choose colours and accessories from a digital catalogue courtesy of an iPad.

Models from the latest GLE-Class series and the brand-new AMG GTS as well as other popular autos are parked alongside and can be taken for a test drive. This area also serves as the stage for the on-going schedule of lifestyle activities focusing on art, fashion and music. 

“The decoration is inspired by the Mercedes Benz logo of a three-pointed star. It has sophisticated shapes and lines as well as luxurious details and elegant simplicity. We want it to be a versatile space that both brand lovers and those new to the brand will embrace. Our aim is to provide everyone with the opportunity to taste a new, exciting lifestyle experience,” adds architect Winai. 

Berlin-born chef Mirco Keller of Bangkok’s popular eatery Water Library is in charge of the dining area and he’s responsible for creating a German menu far removed from sausage and sauerkraut. 

Decorated to resemble a vertical flower garden and maintaining the three-pointed star theme, it’s furnished with leather armchairs, comfy sofas and can seat around 50 diners.

“Benz is a very big German company that produces elegant cars. The Mercedes is more than just a motor. It’s closer to jewellery. This is a challenge for Water Library as well as for me. We want to make people understand that Germany has much more than cars and sausages,” Keller says.

His repertoire covers a wide selection of basic German dishes, all of them reconstructed to ensure the authentic flavour. 

“We have a true German kitchen. In Germany, we cook with a lot of spices and use pepper and chilli but not in the same way as in Thai cuisine,” Keller says.

Among the culinary highlights are the flat Smoked Salmon Sandwich filled with horseradish cream on pumpernickel bread and a Black Forest Ham Sandwich with mustard cream and sauerkraut bread. Each is served with rocket salad and chips and priced at Bt300. 

Keller’s Egg Salad (Bt180) is also different, featuring both boiled chicken egg and onsen duck egg. It’s served in a green sauce made from seven different herbs.

His meatballs (Bt450) are a mixture of beef and chicken, served with mashed potato in butter sauce and a beetroot and green apple salad.

And his desserts are colourful. A favourite is likely to be the Rote Grutze (Bt120), red berries in vanilla sauce with fresh cream ice, served with 

 crumble and sliced fresh strawberries.

The pioneer of the car showroom-cum-restaurant is Fuzio, which has been doing business for more than a decade. Located on the sixth floor of Mini Square on Ekamai Soi 7,the restaurant is run by Millennium Auto, an authorised dealer of BMW, Mini Cooper and Rolls Royce.

“My boss used to operate the Royal Suite Hotel on Rama IX Road. He wanted to offer a rooftop Italian restaurant to please customers from our showroom as well as office workers in the area. Back then, there was no fine dining Italian restaurant in Thailand,” says manager Thanach Rungrueng. 

Renovated for a more modern look a few years ago and to give some space to its sister restaurant Garret, which serves easy-to-eat American dishes, it now boasts a purple decor with chandeliers, comfortable sofas and cushioned chairs. The menu features such favourites as Pizza Tuna Mayo (Bt650), topped with seared fresh tuna, salmon caviar and spicy mayo sauce and Snow Fish Nero Pasta (Bt680), which combines black ink spaghetti and snow fish in a rich sauce, topped with caviar. 

Surf ’N’ Turf (Bt1,500) boasts wagyu beef tenderloin and tiger prawn in Gorgonzola Barolo sauce and is served on baked spinach.

A must-try sweet treat is Panna Cotta Cream (Bt150) decorated with mixed berries. The restaurant also offers a wide range of red, white and sparkling wines.

Also on Soi Ekamai is the upscale eatery Tonino Lamborghini Lounge that despite the name has nothing to do with the luxury sport car brand 

 though it does share a familial link.

The lifestyle experience brand with Italian design heritage and luxury at its core is the brainchild of Tonino Lamborghini, son of Ferruccio, the industrialist who introduced the sports car to the world, and has been involved in the hotel, lounge, hospital and fashion accessory business in 1981. 

Open since February, it’s run by Modena Club and is the first franchised Tonino Lamborghini lounge in Southeast Asia. And while not strictly an automobile cafe, it is pleasantly masculine with black and red walls and leather cushioned armchairs that take their inspiration from the curvy lines of the supercar. In addition to a bar and restaurant, it also offers a VIP room equipped with powerful stereo system.

 A casual cafe area serves all-day breakfasts, sandwiches and salads with Tonino Lamborghini coffee and its own brand of blended teas and energy drinks.

The coffee packs a punch too with a choice of Red Line, a blend of 80-per-cent Arabica and 20-per-cent Robusta and the lighter and smoother Platinum Line.

The kitchen is run by executive chef Theerawat Chuensomboon, whose culinary credits include the Royal Orchid Sheraton and Sofitel So Bangkok. 

“Like other Tonino Lamborghini lounges, we offer such traditional Italian dishes as Angus Beef Carpaccio, VitelloTonnato and Marguerita pizza but we adapt the ingredients to suit the Thai palate,” the chef explains. 

His personal creations include Tuna Tare Tare with Yuzu (Bt240), which combines avocado with diced akami tuna, caviar, yuzu and extra virgin olive oil, Smoked Duck Salad (Bt300) and Kuni-Ola Pizza (Bt320) with chorizo, pepperoni and jalapeno. 

Those with a sweet tooth will enjoy the Panna Cotta (Bt210) that features strawberry gel, whole strawberries and almond cream and goes exceptionally well with the Shakerato iced coffee (Bt160), blended with espresso, ice cubes and a choice of chai or vanilla or amaretto flavours.

The lounge offers a range of colourful cocktails, among them Vodka Lambo (Bt350), a mix of Tonino Lamborghini vodka and Tonino Lamborghini energy drink and the Flamingo Lambo (Bt490) that blends the vodka with Jameson’s Irish whisky, Kalhua and Cointreau. Live music and DJ spins provide the soundtrack Monday to Saturday from 7.30. 

 

 

REVVING UP TO GO

>>Mercedes Benz Cafe runs until July 31. It’s on the first floor of the Emporium and open daily from 10am to 10pm. Visit www.Mercedes-Benz.co.th

 

>>Fuzio is on the sixth floor of Mini Square on Ekamai Soi 7 and open daily from 11am to 2.30pm and again from 6 to 10pm. Call (02) 711 6999 or visit www.Fuzio.co.th. 

 

>>Tonino Lamborghini is located on the first floor of Civic Horizon on Soi Ekamai. Cafe service is offered daily from 10am to 6pm and dinner from 6pm to 1am. Call (083) 040 4787 or visit Lamborghini-Lounge.com.