Chef of the Month – Tammi Willis — this vegan life

When did you open the two cafes?

We opened Nourish Yangon in December 2016. Once established, I spent more time in Bangkok training in BJJ. The gym where I train, Bangkok Fight Lab, moved premises and the opportunity arose to build Nourish Bangkok, looking out over the training mats of our warehouse style gym. Nourish Bangkok opened in March 2018. Nourish Yangon do sell a local artisan yoghurt and some recipes contain honey but Nourish Bangkok is 100% vegan. Being able to run a plant based cafe in the gym is a dream come true. All my passions are under one roof.

Are your customers mostly people from the gym?No, it’s a real mix. There’s locals, there’s the expat population, gym goers and of course, vegan and vegetarian travellers. Vegans are amazing at seeking out vegan places. If you are listed on Happy Cow and Trip Advisor, vegans will come find you!

Is your cafe eco friendly?

We strive to be. We have silicone straws for smoothies, metal straws for iced coffee and paper straws to takeaway. Our takeaway cutlery is made from compostable bio-corn and our bin bags are compostable too. We’re proud members of the Refill Not Landfill initiative. Brands and organisations across South East Asia sign up to sell permanent water-bottles which have a QR code customers scan, which tells them where they can fill up with drinking water for free, reducing single-use, disposable plastic water bottle waste.

Is there a strong vegan scene in Bangkok?
Asia is famous for its vegan and vegetarian festivals. We’re one of six, if not more, 100% plant based, environmentally aware, international cuisine cafes. There’s others specialising in Thai food and more still who don’t focus on the environmental side of things. Bangkok’s a big place and there’s nothing like us in our immediate area but all the vegan businesses are supportive of each other. Every new establishment strengthens Bangkok’s reputation as a vegan destination.