KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 – Cafes are popping up around the Klang Valley faster than you can finish your cup of Java. In the F&B world, you often have to be ahead of the game to succeed, especially when it comes to a culinary direction.
For the people behind Coffee Project Mesui – a collaboration between Asianage Holdings and Coffex Coffee -- they hope to offer a difference with the newly-opened Feeka Coffee Roasters on Jalan Mesui.
“We want to have a benchmark place that sets a standard, especially in this tourist area that has no nice coffee and pastries,” says Kelvin Ngow, executive director of Coffex Coffee. The cafe’s concept takes inspiration from the Swedish term fika, which means taking a coffee break with some food. With this in mind, the all-day cafe will serve freshly-made pastries, cakes, sandwiches and light meals with coffee.
Getting the look
As far back as March, planning for the new space along Jalan Mesui had already started. Asianage’s Adrien Ritzal was tasked to co-ordinate between the contractors and the owners. However, as the months passed, the renovation faced hiccups and delays as multitude layout changes were made.
“The challenge for the kitchen was, we had no idea in the beginning what the menu will be like hence we were shooting in the dark,” says Adrien. Once Asianage Group Executive Chef Mashad Pino came on board in September, things began to fall in place as he designed an all-day menu to fit the kitchen space.
According to Adrien, Feeka’s interior is envisioned as a blend of two exisiting looks from Asianage’s Butter + Beans at Seventeen and Food Foundry. “We wanted to mix these two together where Food Foundry is very light and feminine, while Butter + Beans at Seventeen is masculine and dark.”
Adrien juxtapositioned elements like refined chairs from the 1940s against walls left bare and understated to create a tension between the smooth and rough. “We wanted the building to have a story to tell like a bit of history, as these are the original walls. The effect was created throughout the years as different tenants added different coats of paint, and we see its many layers as we scraped it off .”
Rather than cover it with wallpaper, Adrien believed that it is best to keep the walls in its purest form, which is truthful and honest.
However, the bare walls are just temporary, as artworks for sale will be displayed with prices ranging from RM1,000 onwards. Complementing its rustic look, Muuto pendant lights with their distinct naked bulbs are draped with their wires from the ceiling. These lights are designed by Swedish
Swedish architect and designer, Mattias Stahlbom.
Once you walk into the space, your eyes will be drawn to the coffee bar where natural light spills over it from an air well. Future plans include hanging plants to drape down from the balcony, and a chalkboard written menu. You also have a display table filled with a selection of cakes and pastries.
Some spaces are still work-in-progress, like the lounge area in front of the coffee bar that will be fitted out later in the month. Upstairs, the space will be left empty for upcoming food events. Asianage plans to hold future Club Cake or even Food Swap events there.
Outside, Adrien plans to paint the white walls with murals and decorate them with floral installations. The tree growing in the middle of the yard also lends a charm to the whole space. For the floor, wooden patterns decorate it with a secondary purpose. “The patterns lessen the tension for the concrete floor should it expand with the heat, hence it kills two birds with one stone,” explains Adrien.
Take a break for food and a cup of coffee
Fans of Mashad’s food from his days at Bangsar’s Hit & Mrs. may be a little disappointed as he is doing something different with Feeka’s offerings. “I never like to replicate things I have done before and I like to change quite often.”
His menu is designed to fit the requirements of the nearby residents and the small kitchen space. “It is not an elaborate or big menu so it needs to be fast cook items. Since there is a lot of a la minute cooking, we need a lot of cooking space.” Catering to their needs, the kitchen is outfitted with a 6 feet hot plate, grill and oven.
The petite kitchen space will be headed by a sous chef who will run the place like his own restaurant. Due to the limited space, the kitchen can only accommodate six people at one time.
Mashad will run two menus concurrently – an all-day breakfast menu from 8am onwards and another menu from 11am for lunch and dinner. “It’s going to be comfort food with a twist.”
For the breakfast items, expect to tuck into the healthy (but oh-so-addictive!) oats soaked in coconut milk topped with bananas, homemade granola and a dollop of vanilla crème fraiche. The granola is chock-full of goodies like cashew nuts, pecans, walnuts, cranberries, sultanas, raisins, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. He jazzes up the omelette with a twist, throwing in melting Tallegio cheese with sauteed cauliflower touched with cumin that echoes a slight Indian taste. This is served with sauteed mushrooms.
One of Mashad’s signatures is his French toast that uses pannetone bread, the sweet Italian bread associated with Christmas. “It is one dish I really like and have bought it everywhere I have gone.”
Previously in Hit and Mrs, he served the French toast with a butterscotch Chantilly. For Feeka, the eggy fluffy bread is served with sauteed strawberries, Chantilly cream and cream caramel sauce.
The all-day menu items also have a healthy slant with salads like a beetroot and orange segment or a grain version with a mix of couscous, barley, quinoa, lentils, chicken peas, pumpkin seeds, tomatoes all tossed with herbs and arugula leaves.
In addition, the cafe will also feature a selection of pastries from their bakery in Petaling Jaya.
This fits the niche for nearby residents from the apartments around the area. “The community who live around here are looking for a place to pop in for take away pastries like a croissant.”
Sweet tooth lovers can also tuck into their cakes, a daily spread of four cakes and eight pastries.
For the soft launch on Monday, Feeka introduced a few varieties: coconut cheese, lemon poppy seed, chocolate coffee tart, olive oil carrot cake, and Chocolate Obsession. The chocolate curls-adorned tart was a big hit with its aromatic coffee and chocolate flavours together with the delicate crust.
Expect more cakes to be introduced in the future, as this is only 30 per cent of the range.
As the cafe is coffee-centric and borrows its name from a Swedish tradition, they have decided to adopt the Nordic approach, made popular by coffee pioneer Tim Wendelboe, on the way the green coffee has been sourced from farms that are sustainable and traceable before it is roasted.
“We’re looking at clean coffee that is not dark roasted,” explains Ngow on the coffee’s flavour profile. Coffex Coffee had also designed a special blend to not overpower and complement the delicate pastries and cakes served here. Specialty beans such as Kenya Getare AA is also served here.
For Christmas, Feeka plans to introduce special single origin bean from Brazil with hazelnut and caramel flavours. In future, seasonal blends using notable coffee beans will also be highlighted.
Coffee lovers can opt for their cup of Java from the special artisan coffee machine or by Aeropress.
The cafe also has a Gold Cup Brewer designed for pour over single origin coffees to ensure consistency. “This takes out the guesswork in coffee making for a perfect cup,” says Ngow.
Feeka Coffee Roasters, 19, Jalan Mesui, Kuala Lumpur.(https://www.facebook.com/feeka.coffeeroasters) Open daily: 8am to 12am. For the first week, they are open from 8am to 6pm.
This story was first published in Crave in the print edition of The Malay Mail on November 22, 2013.
