Cooking for Community: A Day with Harmoneat (Yangon, Myanmar)

It’s a simple idea, a social initiative with the vision of building communities united by commonality rather than divided by difference. Their name is Harmoneat, and they operate under the pretense that food is as good a medium of change as anything else. They have only been operating for three months, and have aspirations of starting Myanmar’s first network of socially engaged food trucks. Just last week I got the chance to do food with them – Myanmar food – to see what this community building thing is all about.

It was a full course day, starting with a guided walk through the market, going on to feature some chopping, some frying, and why not, a few dashes of this or that, all culminating in an expansive feast of dishes from regions far and wide. But perhaps what stuck most is that all was complemented with plenty of stimulating conversation on the side. Food was made, bonds were formed, said food was eaten, and I sure felt better about my knowledge of ethnic Myanmar. Read More

City Guide: Pai, Thailand

It’s not hard to slow down in Pai. With an endless stream of restaurants, waterfalls, live music, spiritual centers and more, this northern Thailand mountain city is the perfect place to kick back and take some time to relax. Without spoiling the fun of exploration, here are just a few of my favorite hangouts so far:

Eat:

The Link

Ling is an amazing chef who puts an emphasis on natural. She’s got a huge garden out back, and it’s not uncommon to see her poking around outside after you order in pursuit of the freshest ingredients that Pai has to offer. The prices are fair (around 80 Baht for a curry) and she offers the only laundry service I’ve found that uses natural homemade detergent.

My suggestion: The Bunny Plate with a tomato and mushroom dipping sauce, where you’ll be served up a large plate of herbs and leafy greens picked fresh from the garden with a plethora of fruits and veggies on the side. Seems like the offering is always changing based on what’s ready in the garden, which is what we like to see! Read More