butterisbetter

I've had similar problems with SMEG. Definitely a brand to stay away from.

As I understand it, under the Thai-United States Amity Treaty, U.S.A. based businesses owned by Americans are allowed to buy land in Thailand under much easier terms than would be the case for other foreign owned business. The Amity treaty does accord Americans special status. For example, I know that unlike other foreigners, because of this treaty, as an American I don't need to show that I have 800,000 baht in the bank to obtain or renew my retirement visa. . I just need to go to the U.S. Consulate and get a notarized statement that I earn x amount of income per year.

OMG... I'm sooo going there sometime next week. I get back tomorrow.... weee!

Currently the store is closed Sundays.

Now theres a new sponsor I guess we gotta go throughthe normal 50 promotion messages daily

bit boring for sure

I just need to be told once and I will try it but now we are going to get every little change in the menu new addition to the menu

I'd like to PM you with updates about the exciting typographical changes we make on our menu as they occur in real time. All you have to do is send me a request. By the way, where do you stand on the issue of Calibri typeface vs. Verdana? Yes, this is a test.

That sounds good - do you do a custard style ice cream or a 'Philadelphia style" no egg ice cream?

The dulce de leche ice cream has no egg. We also occasionally make a French Vanilla Ice Cream, which, by definition, does have egg in it.

Butter is Better restaurant has homemade dulce de leche ice cream today, Friday, Apr 23. For the 1 or 2 people unfamiliar with this flavor, it's also known as milk caramel.

As luck would have it, the gas sytem feeding our baking ovens failed today. So only a trickle of baked goods are coming out of our one electric oven.. It's just the baked goods that are affected. Everything else is per usual

Gunther's German food is fantastic. Including his bacon. The bacon that Bake and Bite was using the taste was like drinking salt water. Other people have commented on it farang and Thais alike on how salty it was.

www.muantae.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87

I went out there once. Had a very impressive meal. Hard to find, though. Did I read somewhere that GM now has a branch of their restaurant somewhere in the city?

I like that German bacon too. It's just different but very well made. No corners were being cut there.

The owner mentioned to me that they are experimenting with ways to increase portions while retaining the excellent quality of the food and without raising the price. They have only been open for a few weeks and are going through some growing pains.

Wrong way around. Start with proper food and proper portions, then when successful see if you can tweak things to sort out the profit margin, and then do it by working the purchasing/inventory side first, not the customer side. Let your bottom line be the guinea pig and the affected party of any growing pains, not your customers. Customers don't want to suffer a business' growing pains.

To state the obvious, you can only make a first impression once, but you have plenty time to tweak costs while customers keep coming in.

And that applies ESPECIALLY when taking over a successful business. You need to be MORE generous at first to keep the customer base, which presumably was a reason to take over an existing business in the first place.

Usually, when restaurants launch, they begin with what is called a soft opening. No publicity, no solicitations. Just to give the restaurant time to get itself in order. A restaurant is a complicated thing to orchestrate. I remember going to the Dukes when it first opened. I wasn’t real impressed. But it has steadily and relentlessly improved over time and keeps on improving over its already high standard. That’s what we are doing too. With a restaurant you haven’t got much choice. If you’re not getting better, then you’re getting worse.

That said, I think the quality of our food is already high. And our baked goods even higher.

And our breakfast portions are growing in size. And I swear that is without the benefit of steroids.

As for working the “the purchasing inventory side first” , maybe if we were a foundry manufacturing ingots of pig iron, this might apply. ( I’m guessing here that one ingot of pig iron is pretty much like another. Forgive me, connoisseurs of pig iron, if I am in error.)

But we are not manufacturing a commodity. Compare something as simple as 2 chocolate chip cookies. One may be made with cheap bleached flour, margarine, artificial vanilla, and chocolate chips very low in actual chocolate while the other contains top quality dark couverture chocolate, unbleached flour, genuine vanilla, and real butter. The only way to make the latter match the former in price would be to stage a heist on an upmarket bakery supply truck, or maybe start a cacao plantation.

Clearly, Mr. Winnie-the-Kwai is a believer in the magic of the marketplace. Me, I’m a believer in the science of the marketplace.

That said, our menu items are mostly priced in line with other establishments. We have conducted clandestine reconnaissance missions on their most closely guarded menus, just to assure ourselves of the fact.

Also, we did not take over an existing business. Bake and Bite is still very much in business in bigger and better quarters elsewhere. Two elsewheres, actually. We just rented the premises formerly occupied by them, And would have done so even if the place was previously a discount chainsaw outlet. Location, location, location.

Butter is Better, really? Franckly, I was disappointed with this new place.

Me, too.

After reading so many gushing reviews on this forum, I was looking forward to a great breakfast of bacon & eggs at the new Butter is Better (Changklan Road, near Pantip Plaza, across from Giorgio's.)

But what I got was, just like "Cib", frankly disappointing:

One strip of bacon cut into two pieces, maybe trying look like more.

Whole wheat bread that had no flavour and a strange, crumbly texture, like a dry cake rather than moist, yeast bread.

Eggs decent.

Rather slow service in late morning with few other customers, but "mai-pen-rai" this is Thailand.

On the positive side, a very pleasant, charming, chatty, lady who introduced herself as the owner.

It's only polite to give a new place time to settle in.

And I always want to encourage any new business and wish them success.

But Butter is Better has had a month already, and breakfast is the simplest meal to prepare and serve.

I was expecting something better.

-- Oneman

Chiangmai

.

First off, I'd like to thank those who made kind comments about Butter is Better. It is much appreciated. I would like to point out that while it may seem that our cookies and cakes are richer because of the butter, that is not the case. It's just that butter, unlike margarine, or Crisco, or any other artificial trans fat, actually has a lot of flavor. So it is detectable as such in pastries, cakes, and whatever it is used in. Actually, for what it's worth, butter is slightly lower in calories than margarine. Of course, in our pastries and cakes that use lots of whipped cream, they are going to be rich. But I don't think any richer than the imitation whipped cream used by most bakeries here.

As for the bacon. The previous establishment used a very high quality German bacon. But German bacon is very salty. So the strips are cut thin and small. We use an American style bacon that is cut very long and thick. I guarantee you that one strip of this bacon outweighs 2 of the German kind.

As for the whole wheat bread having no flavor. That is about as close to impossible as any culinary assertion can be. Unlike most bread calling itself whole wheat in Chiang Mai, our bread actually is made with virtually 100 percent whole wheat flour. (I say "virtually" because about 1 teaspoon of wheat gluten is added to each loaf. Wheat gluten is the part of the wheat that enables bread to rise. Whole wheat needs some help. ) One thing whole wheat flour does not lack is flavor. It can't help but be flavorful. One may not like the flavor, but that's a different thing.

As for it being dry. Real whole wheat bread can never be as soft as white bread or what passes for whole wheat in chiang mai. That's why white bread is so popular. So it's texture may you lead you think that whole wheat is dry compared to white bread. That said, we have lots of people who regularly buy loaves of our whole wheat bread.

As for your expecting something better… I believe you are the person who recently made some strange and unpleasant accusations against a couple of other advertisers on this site. I leave it to others to decide where your true hopes and expectations lie.

Had my computer hard drive "repaired" by someone who reformatted my disk rather than fix a software problem. at any rate, i need some honest shop to reformat my disk again and install a legitimate version of windows 7 and windows office. by "honest" i mean i want a shop that won't install spyware or other kinds of obnoxious software. It would be most convenient for me if the shop were located at or near Pantip Plaza., i know that this is something i could do myself but I don't want to.

Carrefour has some nice French cheeses under their own brand that are quite good and not outrageously expensive.

I can second that.

They had a cheese there called St. Felicien du Dauphine that was great. Other excellent raw milk cheeses too including a Reblochon.

Well have you noticed that a product if it is for a farrang even when it produced in Thailand , where the ingredients and labor is a lot cheaper .

When the product hits the market it is almost more expensive or more expensive the you buy it in Europe.

The EU gives massive subsidies to farmers. If that wasn't the case, the prices would be a lot higher, or, many of the products would go out of production.

I haven't been back in the USA for 4 years but the prices of imported cheeses here compares very favorably to the prices in the USA. And you can't get young raw milk cheese like Camembert in the USA. It's prohibited by the FDA. I never understood the appeal of Camembert until I ate some made from raw milk. It's an extraordinary cheese. In fact, I thought that Thailand might want to boost tourism with some slogan like "Amazing Thailand Amazing Camembert".

Anyway, according to guest visiting from the states, the imported french and italian stuff is actually a bit cheaper here than in the USA. I can't speak for the EU countries authoritatively but I remember from my days of visiting there that even high end products that were local weren't all that much cheaper there than they were in the USA

I went to the Dukes a few nights ago and I was very impressed. Particularly with the quality of their garlic cheese bread. It tasted like a cross between a focaccia and pizza dough. Clearly very high quality flour went into it and it was allowed to age properly. Very impressive. In fact, i was so impressed I forgot to order an all beef hot dog.

Absolutely going to my head...

Calmed down now. Thanks everyone and I agree, it is not always easy to find copies of Citylife, but I am afraid that with the economic contraints we are simply unable to print to demand. While my readers are plentiful, many of my advertisers have had a tough go of it the past year and as you can see if you compare recent copies to those from, say two years ago, our publication is thinner...and so we do our best to maintain quality and content, but circulation expansion is going to have to wait until things get better. I have a list of all the places we deliver to, please just email [email protected] and I will send it to you so you can find the places closest to your convenience. Some places we deliver hundreds of copies to, others only a handful. Gonzo, I shall put you back on the route for April, sorry about that. Please feel free to email me anytime and I know I was going to visit your lovely sounding restaurant, but I have been busy with house renovations, so haven't had a moment. But I shall!

This is overwhelming feedback and I am very grateful for all of your support. If you have any criticisms please bring them on too, I am happy to listen, and do my best to improve. Cheers and have a lovely day. Pim

I would be glad to pay for a subscription. I'm guessing it's no simple matter to set up a subscription service.

With the exception of post #3, all the pickles referred to are vinegar pickles. I got a lot of respect for vinegar pickles but what I prefer are lactic acid pickles - the same acid the makes yogurt taste sour. Maybe that's because of my eastern European heritage where lactic acid pickles are the norm. That probably has something to do with the climate.. You need cool temperatures to make a lactic acid pickle. Unlike vinegar pickles, lactic acid pickles produce their own sourness -lactic acid - thanks to various kinds of lactobacillus bacteria. Sauerkraut, kimchi and Jewish deli cucumber and tomato pickles are all examples of this kind of pickle. In the same way that rye flour helps to make a sourdough (lactobacillus) starter, a piece of rye bread thrown into a pickle brew will help encourage the growth of lactobacillus bacteria. A large amount of salt is added to discourage other bacteria.

Here's a good recipe. It doesn't directly specify the size of the cucumbers but they should be able to just fill 3 one quart jars. Kirby cucumbes are the kind that have a rougher and lighter skin and not so lengthy a shape. It's advisable to bite into one before you buy more, since they can often be bitter and unsuitable for pickling. You can substitute other kinds of cucumbers. This recipe comes from Arthur Schwartz.

4 quarts (scant 4l) water

6 tablespoons coarse white salt (kosher, if available)

18-20 Kirby cucumbers, scrubbed

8 cloves garlic, unpeeled and lightly-crushed

2 tablespoons pickling spice (see links below)

6 bay leaves

1 large bunch of dill, preferably going to seed, washed

1. In a large pot, heat 1 qt (1l) water with the salt until the salt is dissolved. Add the remaining water.

2. Prepare three 1 quart (liter) wide jars by running them through the dishwasher or filling them with boiling water, then dumping it out.

3. Pack the cucumbers vertically into the jars, making sure they're tightly-packed. As you fill the jars, divide the garlic, spices, bay leaves, and dill amongst them.

4. Fill the jars with brine so that the cucumbers are completely covered. Cover the jars with cheesecloth, secured with rubber bands, or loosely with the lids. Store in a cool, dark place for 3 days.

5. After 3 days, taste one. The pickles can ferment from 3 to 6 days. The longer the fermentation, the more sour they'll become. Once the pickles are to your liking, refrigerate them.

Best ever steak in my life came from the ram on the left.

The second best steak came from this guy.

But, I barbequed them myself. Wild sheep tastes like the best Kobe beef ever, providing it is not over done.

I haven't had what I would call a good steak in Asia. I just don't think they have access to the kind of beef necessary to make a good steak.

then you should try the matsusaka beef that is sold at Rimping. Best steak I ever had. Of course at more than 6000 baht per kilo it had better be.

Asmerom : "I dare you put a calorie count on your products. Though, come to think of it ,you may need an attached laboratory equipped with a battery of expensive whizzers and whirlers to work out the sums."

I'm not sure why we are being singled out for a calorie count. Are you laboring under the impression that butter or butterfat somehow has more calories than vegetable shortening? Because, I can assure you that it doesn't. According the the United State Department of Agriculture, 1 tablespoon of butter has 102 calories. 1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening has 113 calories. On a per gram basis one gram of butter has has 7.2 calories. Whereas one gram of vegetable shortening has 8.8 calories. So both by weight and by volume, butter has less calories than vegetable shortening.

Yes, you are quite right to call into question the implications of my request which does suggest that butter is more calorific than other common cooking fats and I stand corrected.It does have that undeserved reputation and I hadn't really thought very clearly about it ; just accepted standard belief. I spread Olive Grove Lite on my toast which contains 20kj per gram which translates into 5 calories I think. About 30% less than butter. Its a weight problem made infinitely worse by reading Thai Visa. This one thread has contributed 350 calories to my daily intake. I wonder if we could'nt invent a "lite" version of TV with 30% less calories or kilojoules.

Unfortunately these lite fats aren't suitable for cooking so yes, we're stuck with butter.By the way, Does anyone know the Brand Name of the butter used by Art Cafe which tastes like double cream. The butter I buy (when I'm feeling sinful) Allowrie and Orchid doesn't seem to replicate that delicious taste.

You're right about Dacheeso (Art Cafe) butter. Their cream is also brilliant. As good as anything I had in the UK or Ireland where I lived for a year. . Just like that cream, it thickens up on its own in about a day. They also make an old fashioned creamtop (unhomogenized) milk that clearly is pasteurized the old fashioned way at low temperature. It tends to go sour quickly but not rotten unlike standard pasteurized milk. . You can still drink it as soured milk or use it in recipes that call for sour milk. In fact, all their fresh milk products are first rate. And their Hideway cafe has some really nice stuff as well.

Does anyone know where to get pure Vitamin C powder in Chiangmai or by post elsewhere in Thailand? I'm looking for pure vitamin C unmixed with any of the various nutritional supplements it often keeps company with.

Ulysses : "Butter is Better has great blueberry scones, sticky buns and amazing apple pie. Making all this stuff with lots of cream, butter and expensive ingredients earns this bakery a unique place in Chiang Mai."

I'd like to thank this anonymous masked man for his kind words. I should add that not everything on offer will contain butter or cream.. There are currently available such items as 99% whole wheat bread which is not only butter-free but cholesterol-free as well and there will shortly be soups and sandwiches which will suffer from a similar deficiency. We are seriously thinking of posting warning labels on such offerings. Something like "Vegan friendly verging on promiscuous -- shield your childrens' eyes"

I dare you put a calorie count on your products. Though, come to think of it ,you may need an attached laboratory equipped with a battery of expensive whizzers and whirlers to work out the sums. Can't read Thai but I don't think Thai products go in for providing this infomation which in Britain is ubiquitous and in many cases mandatory.

I'm not sure why we are being singled out for a calorie count. Are you laboring under the impression that butter or butterfat somehow has more calories than vegetable shortening? Because, I can assure you that it doesn't. According the the United State Department of Agriculture, 1 tablespoon of butter has 102 calories. 1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening has 113 calories. On a per gram basis one gram of butter has has 7.2 calories. Whereas one gram of vegetable shortening has 8.8 calories. So both by weight and by volume, butter has less calories than vegetable shortening.

Butter is Better has great blueberry scones, sticky buns and amazing apple pie. Making all this stuff with lots of cream, butter and expensive ingredients earns this bakery a unique place in Chiang Mai.

I'd like to thank this anonymous masked man for his kind words. I should add that not everything on offer will contain butter or cream.. There are currently available such items as 99% whole wheat bread which is not only butter-free but cholesterol-free as well and there will shortly be soups and sandwiches which will suffer from a similar deficiency. We are seriously thinking of posting warning labels on such offerings. Something like "Vegan friendly verging on promiscuous -- shield your childrens' eyes"

Bake and Bites spice mix was originally supplied to them by a lady named Alice. It was a good American breakfast spice mix that had sage as its main ingredient. I think I still have a package around here. Alice used to say that they, Bake and Bite, added onion to the sausage. She's been gone for a while now, living in the US, so I'm not sure if she gave them the recipe or what they are doing. There is no secret to good breakfast sausage. There many recipes all over the internet. The real secret is in the amount of fat that is added to the mix. Sausage has fat. Sage is the main spice. Thyme is good, as in the original MC Donalds sausage.

It's interesting that Bake and Bite has decided to live from the new location. Maybe a good idea and it sounds like they are busy.

Real Bakery= No.

Butter is Better

It sounds like the Butter is Better people, are making the same mistakes.

Good Luck.

Re: Real Bakery = No.

What does that mean?

Whoa, can we go back to the part about "blintzes"?

Art Cafe also has great breakfasts and blintzes, buttermilk pancakes, waffles and much more. I am looking forward to checking out Better with Butter though. Is it fully operating yet?

Starting on Friday March 5 Butter is Better will be offering an all day breakfast menu. The menu will be smaller at first, but expand gradually. We're trying to keep a tight lid on quality control. The lunch menu will be launched on March 12.

Anyway, if you ask me, a diet of pastries, pies, and cake is good for whatever ails you. Who needs protein and green leafy things anyway?