Koh Chang menu ready, another thing was how to actually get it done every night. With a kitchen equipped with only one microwave, one sandwich grill and three hot plates, creativity and the ability the keep ones cool is of the essence. “I’m very proud that we’re without a doubt the fastest place to get the food out. But if 20 people walk in at the same time, basically we’re screwed,” Linus says candidly. Before Linus’ arrival the WE restaurant only served Thai food because only Thais were there to make it. Today the Swede is still the only “farang” working in the kitchen and getting his Thai staff to understand the Western food is quite a challenge. “I may tell them how to make a burger and then show them 20 times, but still there’s no guarantee that they will cook the beef properly. It’s like having a three-year-old besides you. It’s very frustrating and at times you just want to run away screaming,” Linus says. But he immediately assures that it wont come to that. Right now the plan is to stick around for three years. And the reward for the hard work is already starting to show. “We get nothing but positive response on the food. The conditions in the kitchen are not easy, but we manage, and then it just feels that much better seeing happy customers,” Linus says.
Getting the name out On Koh Chang it is very hard to get all the ingredients he needs. And the supply may be different from day to day, which is something that has to be worked into the menu. Every day Linus has to go up the coast to get supplies or as he puts it “go to the
‘food Mafia’” where you need to ask the right man for the right stuff. “I would love to make a nice tenderloin steak, but that’s just not possible. In general the really fresh stuff is very hard to get, except for the fish that is. Sometimes they don’t have this - sometimes they don’t have that,” Linus says with a audible frustration in his voice. As of now, the biggest challenge, besides making the kitchen run smoothly, is getting the name and new concept of WE restaurant out to the visitors and permanent residents of the paradisical island in the South East of Thailand. Thus, flyers and banners have been distributed in big parts of the island. And the result is slowly showing. “In the first two months a lot has happened already. People are getting to know about our food. But there is no doubt that it’s going to take a lot of hard work to really make it,” Linus says.
No Swedish future? When Linus’ three years at Koh Chang are over, there is no telling where he will go. But most likely it will not be back to his home country. “I don’t know if I’m ever going back to Sweden. For me it’s just too boring and when you have the whole world in front of you - why should I go to Sweden?” he asks. Before coming to Koh Chang, he was talking to a restaurant in Dubai. Also two in the USA and one in the Caribbean had been in touch. “Those kind of job offers will be there in the future as well, I’m sure,” he says. “Right now, all I really need is a proper oven in my kitchen,” Linus laughs out.
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July 2011 • ScandAsia.Thailand 39