Interview with Thapae Gate Lodge

Dining Guide (DG): Hi Olaf, could you tell us ho you ended up settling in Chiang Mai as a place to live and open a business?
Olaf: I used to live in Bangkok before, working for different German companies in the food services business. During that time I also met my wife. The birth of our tiwn sons made us decide to stay and do business in Thailand. We opted for Chiang Mai because of the high quality of life here, compared to other places like Bangkok and Pattaya, and were lucky to find this guesthouse with attached restaurant. That was about 2 years ago.

DG: Have you always worked in the food services sector?
Olaf: Not at all, even though I have always liked it. I remember very well when I still went to school I spent all school holidays helping out at my aunt's restaurant in Berlin. I was fascinated by the dynamic in the restaurant which was usually packed with customers. I liked that job so much that, after graduating from high-school, I chose to train as a forester because the forestry institute was nearby my aunt's restaurant, enabling me to work there on the weekends. I later spent a few years working in my parents' ornamental fish business, becoming an expert in Koi fish along the way. But I never really felt satisfied doing this.

DG: So when did you actually get started in the food business?
Olaf: In the military. Even though I had no formal training as a chef and knew very little about food, I was put in charge of my regimen's canteen which served 900-1000 soldiers every day. I had no clue at the beginning, but had no choice but to learn extremely fast. Luckily I was supported by my staff, i.e. chefs, who taught me quite a lot about food. It was during this time that I finally received full training as a chef, sponsored by the military….That was my official entry into the world of food.

DG: Here at the Thapae Gate Lodge you serve German and Thai food and specialize in all-day breakfast, what's well known as Chiang Mai Breakfast World. Why have you chosen to focus on breakfast?
Olaf: Well, it mainly started out of personal experience and frustration with what used to be served as breakfast at many hotels and guesthouses in Chiang Mai: Some sticky toast, a spoon full of jam and some luke-warm instant coffee. Even worse, that 'breakfast' was only served until 10am or so. In my opinion such type of breakfast does not deserve to be called breakfast at all. Hence, we started an experiment here at the Thapae Gate Lodge, offering a huge selection of all-day breakfast sets This experiment has turned out to be a big success. Sometimes I am a bit surprised myself…

DG: What kind of breakfast do you serve?
Olaf: We offer breakfast specialties from many different countries, be it American, English, Dutch, Swiss, Scandinavian, German, and many others.

A complete list of our breakfast sets is available online at chiangmaibreakfastworld.com. We use only the freshest ingredients in our breakfasts, make our own jam and German cheesecake, and serve fresh bread rolls and croissants which are supplied to us daily by local bakeries.

DG: What about your prices?
Olaf: Our breakfast sets start at 59Baht. For the value-conscious guests we offer a partner breakfast for 490Baht, and for those who need something really fancy we recommend one of our luxury breakfasts at 890B or 1290B.

DG: Why do you think it works? What's your philosophy?
Olaf: I think you have to try new things all the time and find out what customers want. We keep adding new menu items, and take out others that don't work. For instance, when we first opened, nobody was interested in cakes or yeast bread. That's changed completely. We sell a lot of that stuff now every single day. We also adjust our menu depending on the time of the year. For example, we have lots of French customers in August, who have completely different eating habits than, lets say, Germans or Americans. Hence, we adjust our menu correspondingly. Simply put, the key to success in the food business - just like in any other business - is to listen to your customers.

DG: Can you tell what nationalities prefer which kind of breakfast?
Olaf: I can try. Americans usually go for our American breakfast, of course But they also like German sausage with fried potatoes, or our Farmer's breakfast which is a huge omelet with potatoes and bacon on it. On the other hand, quite a few American just eat our homemade muffins.
French people like it rather sweet in the morning. They would order fresh baguette or croissants with our homemade jams. Germans are more like Americans, they like hearty food, such as cold cuts and eggs with fresh bread rolls. The Dutch eat everything - and a lot thereof - and usually stay for quite a long time. What every nationality seems to like at the moment is our Fitness breakfast with Muesli and joghurt.
By the way, we increasingly have Thai customers here. Thais like the typical German sausage and also the Farmer's breakfast.

DG: Are your customers mainly tourists or do you also get Expats?
Olaf: Due to our location in the center of town most of our customers - about 80% - are tourists. The rest are Expats and Thais.

DG: At what time do most people come for breakfast?
Olaf: It starts quite early. Sometimes people wait outside the restaurant before 7am, which is when we officially open. Those are mostly people who go on a trekking tour or who have to catch an early train. Some people even order breakfast for take-away and eat it on the back of a tour-van. We are usually very busy until about 11am. After that it gets a bit more quiet but there are breakfast customers throughout the day.

DG: Thanks for your time. I am starving for breakfast now.
Olaf: My pleasure!

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