Propaganda in the kitchen
The founder of the popular home decor brand teams up with Bo.lan founder Duangporn Songvisava in offering healthy food just like grandma used to make
PROPAGANDA, a pioneer of Bangkok’s modern home-furnishings market and the creator of the cheeky Mr P, converted the ground floor of its office building at Town in Town last year into an industrial-vintage eatery and called it Cafe Now.
Having conquered the folk around Lat Phrao, it’s now bringing the funky restaurant to downtown Bangkok with a second outlet that opened three weeks ago in the newly renovated Siam Discovery. Designed as an experimental laboratory, Cafe Now is setting out to enhance quality of life through home-style cooking based totally on organic ingredients from local farms.
“After two decades of sharing our fun ideas through playful home decor items, we wanted to do something new,” Satit Kalawantavanich, the founder and creative director of Propaganda, explains.
“We also wanted people to look at Propaganda with fresh eyes, as an inspiration provider rather than the producer of humorous and functional craft products.
“So now, we are using food to give people a new experience. Our dishes may look simple but their flavours promise to evoke great childhood memories.”
Cafe Now stands out in the crowd with a decor that’s completely white – from the walls and floor to the tables. “The small white tiles and white metal facade make it lively and airy yet relaxing. In short, a great place to enjoy our food,” Satit says.
Veteran chef Duangporn Songvisava, who runs the popular Thai restaurant Bo.lan, is behind the menu and presents a range of dishes that are as easy to cook as they are to eat. The ingredients are sourced from local organic farms. The Happy Chicken Farm in Kamphang Petch province provides the free-range chicken and eggs, the Sloane open farm, which feeds pigs with Thai herbs to protect them from disease, provides the pork while Kasetsart University Kamphang Saen campus supplies the beef from its grass-fed cows.
Vegetables come from agriculturists in Nakhon Nayok province and Propaganda’s rooftop, the fresh milk is by So Fresh and the jasmine rice hails from organic paddies in Yasothon province. Even the fish sauce is of top-drawer, non-chemical quality.
“It’s a cycle. If we don’t use fertiliser in agriculture, we can help our fields and orchards recover. If we eat organic food, we will be healthy. This is the key message. People are now paying more attention to their diets and that can only be a good thing. If we can boost the value of healthy food, this will have an impact on every sector of society,” Satit says.
“The good ingredients and right cooking techniques tantalise the taste buds while the beautiful presentation catches the eye. We don’t tell customers we use organic ingredients but people can tell the difference from the taste and texture.”
Perfect for sharing over lunch are the Khaw Maew (Bt220), jasmine rice paired with deep-fried mackerel, slices of chilli, shallots and lemon and fish sauce, and the Moo Sab Pla Khem (Bt200), a mixture of fried minced pork and salted fish cakes filled with chilli.
“We serve what we like to eat such as Khaw Mae, which is served with fish sauce for a better aroma and smoother flavour. We’ve adapted some recipes to reduce cooking time. For example, we fry the Moo Sab Pla Khem rather than steam it,” adds Narakul Koosurojn, the restaurant’s director.
Other recommended dishes include Kaeng Phed Nue Peuy (Bt250), spicy Thai beef marinated with spices and steamed until tender, Kaeng Pa Nuer Toon (Bt180), spicy Thai jungle curry with braised beef and Khai Jiew Horapha (Bt90), an omelette topped with basil and served with Sriracha chilli sauce.
Caffeine addicts can enjoy strong and aromatic brews from Brave Roasters and Roots for Bt150 as well as the interesting Burry Hint and Orange Hint, both milky coffee drinks blended with syrup, as well as hot chocolate and green tea latte (Bt140). Well worth sampling is the Zaap (Bt150), a colourful mocktail mixed with tom yum ingredients, passion fruit and lemon.
ORGANIC OFFERINGS
>> Cafe Now is located on the third floor of Siam Discovery. It’s open daily from 10 to 10. Find out more at CafeNowbyPropaganda page on Facebook.
