City Buzz

 |  September 1, 2009

A combined art gallery and coffee shop. As you nibble on tasty, sweet treats and sip on a freshly brewed coffee, you can enjoy colourful, naturalistic paintings, which are dotted all around the place. The gallery/coffee shop consists of two floors: the actual café is located on the bottom floor, which also contains several paintings. The top floor contains artwork only. This charming place is the perfect setting for deep conversations spiced with gorgeous views and homemade treats. You can take a seat in one of the many cosy and secluded nooks and corners and enjoy piquant fruit yoghurt, berry flavoured fruit teas, a New York cheesecake or an iced espresso. Keeping in mind that the main objective with ‘Born 2 born to’ was to showcase the visual artworks of four local artists, their selection of desserts and beverages is surprisingly abundant.

Open daily: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Tel: 053 206 544
Loi Kroh Road, Soi 2, fifty metres from the street

If you feel like pampering yourself with an abundance of healthy veggies and vitamin-booming fruits this is the place to go. They serve an array of salads with homemade dressings and different delicious smoothies based on multiple wholesome ingredients. It is the perfect stop if you are on a diet and on the hunt for voluminous dishes with low calories, which still tingle your taste buds. All their ingredients are hydroponic and hence pesticide free. The story behind The Salad Concept is fascinating; the father of the sisters who own it, a retired CMU chemistry dean, fell ill with cancer. He wanted to heal himself by boosting his system with antioxidants and created an ‘anti-cancer juice’ based on apples, guava, ginger, celery, and wheatgrass _ and it did the job! Daddy’s health was restored and his daughters were inspired into combining his knowledge with their culinary skills. Healthy, tasty snacks at very affordable prices which you can enjoy in a cool setting.

Open: 11.am – 10 p.m.
Nimmanhaemin Road, Soi 13
Tel: 053 894 455

Most of us only know wasabi as the devilish pastel coloured paste one gingerly puts on sashimi and sushi. At Tengoku de Cuisine, and only one other restaurant in Thailand, you actually get served fresh wasabi! Every ingredient used at this fine Japanese restaurant is fresh, of the highest quality and often hard to come by, such as salmon cheeks from Tasmania and the best steaks from Kobe. This stylish new restaurant is a pleasure to sit in, with fascinating décor themes and accents, but fans _ of which there are many, Tengoku has been an instant success _ don’t just come here for the setting, when the food is such a draw. Try the delightful salad with seaweed, the flaky tempura washed down by the ubiquitous miso soup, or go large and order shabu-shabu and other great cook-at-your-own-table sets. Lunch sets are relatively inexpensive and a good way to sample more than a few dishes, though with the fantastic wine list, this is a restaurant to spend some time at and really enjoy the best dishes of Japan.

Open: Lunch 11 a.m. – 2.30 p.m.,
Dinner 6-11 p.m.
Tel: 053 851133
55/8 Soi Wat Buakrokluang (opposite Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi Hotel) Chiang Mai-Sankhampang Road

If you fancy yourself as Charlie from ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ then read on…At ‘Chocolate Fact’ you can engorge yourself in chocolate crostata, American chocolate fudge, chocolate panna cotta or a macadamia choc bar, then wash it all down with a dark chocolate latté, a Spanish hot chocolate or a chocolate frappé. Why stop there? Buy chocolate scented candles or chocolate room spray to fill your home with sweet cocoa aromas! In other words Chocolate Fact is the Aladdin’s Cave of that brown, sweet treat most of us know and love a little too much. The owner recommends you to try her own personal favourite: chocolate heart cake which is a heated, soft pastry with chocolate filling, drenched in cranberry sauce and served with a side of peach and blueberries _ drooling yet?
While you enjoy your choice of desserts you can lounge in a chocolate coloured chesterfield sofa and enjoy the fashionable interior design.

Open: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Tel: 053 289245
Two shops: Walking Street across
from Wat Chedi Luang and Nimmanhaemin Road, Soi 12.

Detox is the new buzzword for those looking to get rid of real and imagined waste and toxins in the body. Some take herbal or medical tablets, others eat fruit, the more daring go for some thorough colonic irrigation, and so on. Zotys has a new way of detoxifying the body of waste which is painless and more palatable than some more ‘invasive’ measures. It is, clinically called, Chelation therapy. Zotys clinic provides Chelation to customers by injecting EDTA (Ethyline Diamine Tetra Acetic Acid) to the blood vessel in the same manner as saline solution therapy. It is all very scientific and serious stuff, but if you are keen on finding out more, go and visit them for a free consultation at Zotys Clinic.

Open 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Soi 7 Sirimankalajarn Road
053 895 096, 082 388 9722
www.zotys.com

If you mention Warm Up, everybody in Chiang Mai would probably know what it is, and also where it is. And most of you will probably have been there several times. It is simply one of the coolest places to hang out and have fun with your friends. Now it is time to celebrate Warm Up’s 10 year anniversary. So the favourite hangout of many city inhabitants presents an album which gathers all the local musicians such as Warm Up Project, Mild, Pit bull, Sixty Miles (feat, Lanna Commins), DJ Shaky, Ska Ranger, Sabai Dee, Bank Walking Street, Jui Juis, Shinobu and a special feature from Skin (Demo version) by Dj Job. The album is called ’10 years 10 musicians 10 foundations 10 thousands’. All profit from sales will be donated to social activities and charities. The album is available this month onwards. For more information please contact warmup1999@hotmail.com. Or simply pop by for a brilliant night out at this happening pub.

Warm Up Café Chiang Mai
Nimmanhaemin Road
www.warmupcafe1999.com