Friends are Welcome (Relatives by Appointment)

Mugshot Café, 302 Chulia Street, George Town

Penang residents all know the Rainforest Bakery for its delicious, home-baked bread and cakes, most of which are baked with organically sourced ingredients. Jerry and Jesse, the owner twins, with their school friend Tristan have opened up a delightful coffee shop next door to Rainforest and it’s full of tourists and locals most days.

Their bagels (slightly warmed in a charcoal oven to order) filled with a choice of bacon and egg, smoked salmon and cream cheese, or corned beef and rocket are the best in George Town and their coffee is pretty good too.They do a marvellous home-made yoghurt and museli for breakfast as well.

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Eco Awareness Networking

Green Drinks, Five 27, Straits Quay,Tanjong Tokong, 6-8pm

The brain child of green entrepreneur and former Wall Street banker, Chen-Lay Ong, Green Drinks is an opportunity for people who are interested in exploring green issues to get together, swap stories, and encourage each other to make their lifestyles “greener.” Previous topics of discussion have included green entrepreneurship and recycling in Penang.

The next Green Drinks is scheduled for 19 June at 6pm. Check the Green Drinks Penang webpage for updates: www.greendrinks.org/-/Penang

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So Hungry

Soo Hongry, 29 Lorong Soo Hong, off Armenian Street, George Town

When Amelleia Chamin and Rudy Gerard Chong met in 2008 they never dreamt that they would become the best of friends and open an artisan café in George Town. In fact, Amelleia was planning to become a nun and Rudy a priest, but now they’re following a different vocation. Joined by Tommy, their daschund, who is the step-in pet for those who are missing their own pooch, they open the doors to Soo Hongry every day except Monday. Soo Hongry is a pun on the name of the street and the fact that people come into the café absolutely ravenous.

“We’re trying to make a place where people can come and feel that they’re in the presence of friends, says Rudy. “A bit like a village pub (except that there’s no alcohol) where you can get simple, home-cooked food.

Check out the lemon and poppy seed muffins, the extra jam tarts, and the homemade ginger beer (made from fresh ginger roots), as well as the delicious coffee.

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Hot Housing Creativity

Work Palette, 11 Medan Maktub, Pulau Tikus

Imagine a space where you can draw on the walls, play games, brainstorm and bounce out-of-the-box ideas around and call it work.This is exactly what Work Palette aims to provide for creative nomads, freelancers, tech-preneurs and just about anyone working in or visiting Penang.The name Work Palette is a play on artist’s palette and the wooden pallets which have been up-cycled into furniture, reflecting both the creative vibe of the space and its deep green roots.

This amazingly creative house in Pulau Tikus, where colours abound and funny thought-provoking notices grace the walls, could change the working-at-home practice and usher in a flurry of creative synergies. You can sit and dream here, chat, fly paper darts, work on your computer, hold business meetings, or just chill out. Monthly memberships begin at RM650 but you can purchase four hours for just RM23 (including tea and coffee) if you want to sample the magic.

For more details, www.facebook.com/WorkPalette.

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Victorious Great Dame

The E&O (the Great Dame of Penang) has just opened a gorgeous new wing – the Victory Annex. It comprises several stories of elegant guest rooms, all of which are beautifully designed and combine both modern comfort and the heritage for which the hotel is famous.

There’s also a new set of function rooms and a ballroom in which the Expat Penang/IWA joint ball will be held in November. Best of all, though, is the rooftop swimming pool, where you can catch a tan as you look out across the Straits.

Visit www.eohotels.com.

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Where Memories are Made

Les Memoires Bistro, Loke Thye Kee Building, 2 Burma Road, Georgetown. Open every day from 11am-2.30pm, 6pm-11pm.

If you want great ood in a relaxed, friendly setting then check out Les Memoires, at the M junction of Burma Road and Penang Road. I enjoyed a Caprese Salad, with three different sorts of tomatoes, mozzarella, and toasted fennel seeds, followed by a single giant ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta in a sumptuous tomato sauce. Starters include smoked duck and grilled squid salad and there is selection of mouth watering mains and yummy desserts on the menu.

Les Memoires is one of the most recent additions to the food scene of Penang and the elegant fusion of French and Italian food with some Asian accents should hit exactly the right note with tourists and locals alike. Presided over by Chef Aames, a Penangite who’s worked in the top hotels of the world, and his charming mother, Juliana, they serve beer but not wine, so bring your own (no corkage).

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Written in Penang (But it’s about Singapore)

There’s stimulation of a different kind in the air as 1 June sees the publication of The Scarlet Macaw by Penang-based Canadian author SP Hozy. Set in two time periods, the Singapore of the 1920s and that of the present day, it is what is called a “crossover” novel, containing elements of both literary fi ction and crime. When SP Hozy started writing twenty years ago, it wasn’t a recognised genre, but now it’s gaining popularity.

The novel starts when artist Maris Cousins, who has gone to Singapore to paint, loses her mentor, Peter Stone. She feels he has been murdered but the police take little notice and the case is closed. One day, looking through the trunk that Peter Stone left her, Maris finds a set of short stories, depicting life in the Singapore of the 1920s, that begins to shed light on the mystery.

For more details, visit www.sphozy.com.

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Source: Penang International June 2013 – July 2013
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