Nov 26, 20193 min read

The People and Passion at Baan Unrak Cafè

Putting Baan Unrak on the Vegan Foodie Trail with Signature Dishes. In October 2019 we welcomed very special people from all over the world to Baan Unrak Restaurant and Cafè.

Meet Jaguar!

A Raw Vegan Chef, her name is Jaguar Kukulcan, and she came all the way from New Zealand to help us make delicious and nutritious signature dressings and sauces for our dishes, while also introducing new gems into our menu! It’s Jaguar’s passion to create nutrient, dense and delicious vegan food with a little extra helping of Love (her secret ingredient). We all certainly felt her love while she was here!

For Jaguar, preparing food for someone is her love made visible… Deliciously visible!

For 3 weeks, Jaguar worked with us in our kitchen, teaching us how simple, locally-grown ingredients can be turned into mouth-watering dressings and sauces to complement our dishes. Every day, we shared a different Baan Unrak dish together, trying all the sauces so that we can confidently recommend the best pairings to our guests.

During her stay, Jaguar was inseparable from Laura, a volunteer from Ireland who’s been coaching the team at our restaurant for the past 3 months, sponsored by Sunline Foundation from Singapore.

Jaguar’s stay coincided with “A Journey Back Home”. All of us at Baan Unrak Restaurant were so proud to support the conference with our delicious food and Jaguar’s new signature dressings and sauces. The feedback was better than we could ever have hoped for, it makes us so proud and confident for the future. One of the guests, Khun Rainjita even stayed behind to learn more from Jaguar. She was so impressed!

On Jaguar’s last day, we thanked her for everything she had taught us in her short time here. From Jaguar we also learned how to make cheese, ice cream, granola and yoghurt… the vegan way.

Come and try it yourself! Our best kept secret: mango purée, a dollop of rich cashew nut yoghurt, topped with mango chunks and a sprinkling of granola.

Jaguar will be back in 2020 for more.

Introducing Boboy!

In 2019, we also welcomed Boboy, Baan Unrak’s very first baker, back to Sangkhlaburi. Boboy has a special place in his heart for Baan Unrak. He moved with a Dada to Thailand from the Philippines 14 years ago, and Didi gave him his first job working at our bakery. He quickly became known for his delicious melting cheese bread and chocolate cake.

Boboy is a real success story for Baan Unrak Cafe & Restaurant. The skills he learned here as a baker and his customer service experience meant that he has been able to spread his wings and explore Thailand. After having spent 6 years here, Boboy was recruited to work at Resotel in Sai Yok, a 4 star resort. He is working as the baker and has learned so much over the past 7 years there. Now, every time he has a day off, he comes back to mentor our new baker Muller, who is learning so much from him.

When Boboy visits, the kitchen is a hive of activity and sweet smells. He turns on the oven well before the sun rises over the lake and goes to sleep hours after the sun sets behind the Mon Bridge. He has all of the ovens working at full capacity as he guides our baker Muller and the team on how to make light pastries that melt in your mouth, fluffy blueberry muffins, rich chocolate balls that our customers love with their espresso, and our absolute favorite, the Kinder milk slice, with layers of chocolate sponge cake and a creamy, sweet filling that is an absolute best seller at the evening market.

Boboy loves coming back to Sangkhlaburi and showing his appreciation to Didi for all that she has done for him over the years. He has become an accomplished baker, a fierce artist at work, with a passion for sweet treats.

Our New Menu… The Making Of

All the new dishes are available at the restaurant and will be on our new menu soon! Our long term Italian volunteer Francesco is doing photoshoots of the food (and eating it all afterwards!) so that each dish can be shown “true to life” on our menu and to promote us on social media.