Grub and gears at Bangkok's Pedalicious restaurant | CNNGo.com
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Grub and gears at Bangkok's Pedalicious restaurant Taking the fixie trend down new trails, an Ekamai restaurant caters to fans of the city's cycle culture By Gavin Nazareth
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17 May, 2011
Mandy Supa-arpha and 107 others like this.
Bangkok restaurant owner Rafiq Ridzwan and his partners are fixie addicts (http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/play/bangkok-fixedgear-bikes991460)
. So strong is their addiction that the need to feed
their habit led to a new venture, a hip hangout for other users craving a much-needed grub and gear fix. Pedalicious, located in the quiet residential area of Ekamai Soi 12, in a two-story shophouse, is a bistro that was designed to serve as a hub for anyone passionate about riding, racing and the culture of cycling. Outside, a rack of bicycles hangs from the wall. Within, the interior is cafeteria-meets-workshop, a pleasant space with simple furniture. Just past the front door is a long dining table crowned by a Schwinn bicycle. Black and white photos, funky graphics and quotes punctuate the walls, all waxing lyrical about the joys of riding a bike.
Pull up to Pedalicious on a bike and get a free adrenaline-boosting drink made of Red Bull, grenadine and M-150.
One corner houses a variety of biking magazines and a small television set showing a parade of trick cyclists. You almost expect Queen’s “Bicycle Race (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CTPLUcQAjk) ” track to surge from the speakers. “There was no real meeting point for cyclists in Bangkok, so we decided to open something that would serve as a
community center for them, much like the Rapha Cycling Club,” explains Rafiq, a Malaysian whose day job is art director at advertising agency JWT. He and his “gang” are part of the city’s 25,000-strong cycling community, and members of the Jao Noo Singh Nak Pan (or Mighty Mice on Wheels), a club for devotees of fixed-gear bicycles, or fixies as they are called in biking parlance. “We are five partners -- the others are all ex-JWT, so our common bond is the love of cycling and creativity,” he says, pointing out that most of artwork on the walls was created by the artist in the group, Suraporn “Jekkie” Lertwongpaitoon.
A menu tailor-made for bikers Another partner manages the finances of the bistro that opened its doors to neighborhood bikers last October. The remaining two, who worked in client servicing before branching out into the food business, put together the menu, a simple (yet sometimes quirky) mix of Thai and Western dishes that won’t break the bank. Kick off with the Onion Cream Cheese Fries or the Too Crispy Chicken Wings that, while reminiscent of another popular city eatery’s offering, stands up
http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/eat/grub-and-gears-bangkoks-pedalicious-restaurant-412088
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