The World of Soul Kitchen

Tramezzini Tramezzini Tramezzini

2010-07-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

(click on the photo for enlargement)

Trame Trame what's that ?

"Something in between " in Italian.

Soul Kitchen offers Tramezzini, grilled sandwitches with filling and sauce of your choice.
From salami to portobello mushroom , just to name a few, coupled with roasted balsamic garlic sauce , sweet onion or mustard to choose from.

We make sandwitches like no one else does.

Pasta Weekend Special

2010-07-10T07:21:00.000-07:00

Any pasta of your choice + tiramisu or clam soup.

Special of the Day - a request from Richard, the owner of Old Penang Guest house on Love Lane - Spaghetti Vongole. We got really good feedback on the this pasta dish.

( for enlargement of photo, just click on it )

Hot and sunny !

The first weekend of opening

2010-06-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

Tonio decided to test market with his grandfather's dessert recipe - The Tiramisu. We ran a promotion called Dessert Attack !!
And it sure went down very well with the locals as well as the foreigners.

Sunny weather.

Pay As You Like

2010-06-15T23:21:00.000-07:00

In our first week, we've decided to use a new technique with our first customers.
First styled by Radiohead for fans dowloading their online album. It was further used by non-profit restaurants and now high-class NY restaurants..it's PAY WHAT YOU FEEL!

If you enjoyed the service, food and atmosphere you can pay the menu price..if you feel that you can't pay or would prefer to pay less, that's ok too.

We've found that though it's usual to pay the menu price, our customers are a little more free with verbal feedback and compliments or suggestions..
I suppose in reality it's more a vehicle for better communication with customers..

And so far, we've found it has had a positive effect!

Opening Day!!

2010-06-15T22:45:00.001-07:00

Soul Kitchen has softly slid open its shutters..and opened for business!

On Tuesday, we opened our doors to the public..in a word-of-mouth only, soft opening..the grill was fired up and the plates polished for our first customers early in the morning..although, 10am opening is not so early! A lovely couple of Holland landed our first Tonio's breakfast, which now seems to be a favorite.

During the day, we had a small stream of couples grace our small space. Tramezzini although impossible to say five times quickly is a sure favorite..meats, tomatoes, cheese and a mouth watering sauce of your choice..mmm-mmm..

It's been slightly humid here, raining often with brilliant thunderstorms. But as usual life on the island is nice!

Last Minute Frills..

2010-06-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

Late in the night behind red shutters in the dark of the night..three little workers in a kitchen were working up a fright!

With just one night before opening the doors to the public..we were busy scrubbing down the facade, fixing the new sign..polishing mirrors..preparing sauces..arranging seating..plants. Hauling, lifting, , shopping, mopping and chopping up a storm in this small kitchen!

Finally, we'll be ready for tomorrow. With a delicious menu, fresh produce and a really sweet little atmosphere, we hope our first customers will be happy!

Introducing...the newest soul sista

2010-06-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

Tabitha is our newest addition to the Soul Kitchen family..she hails from the shores of Australia, half Australian half Malaysian and a whole lot of soulshine!

I knew Tab's father in Australia and her younger brother Josh has been a great help and good company during the Love Bus explosion in Penang!

It seems we are now a permanent fixture on the Love Bus 'trail', with the occasional traveller dropping in with a message from the Love Bus in other parts of Malaysia..

We hope to see more of them around in the future..

The month of May

2010-05-31T22:11:00.000-07:00

The Love Bus has gone. Peace and Quiet prevail Soul Kitchen.

Soul Kitchen is very close to its soft opening.

Michele starts to get busy with doing food costing. Tedious part of the whole project. Michele only looks at the white calculator and punches numbers. That's the fun part. Michele's fingers getting sore after two days of punching numbers. That's the not so fun side.

Michele got news that Tonio is buying a panini maker !
Michele likes ! Soul Kitchen serves panini in Penang.

Michele has started getting excited about panini recipes
Portobello mushrooms. Roasted Balsamic garlic. under the hot grill.....Herrlich !

Love Bus continues to excite Soul Kitchen

2010-04-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

The Love Bus does yoga.

Check out the half naked and sweaty bodies. Sessions of 10 intensive days starting at 4am till 10pm led by funny but strict Professor Lingam.

Love Bus leader Mitch ( below, left ) cooked Asian lunch in our Kitchen. Hippy musicians and yoga doers enjoyed the super delicious vegetarian lunchie without much salt and sugar. Assumption : Mitch couldn't find the salt and couldn't tell sugar from salt. That's Professor Lingam seated in the centre.

While Love Bus does Yoga, rebellious Moses once studied Mechanical engineering, assisted by beautiful web designer Selina, repairs our retro 60s trash bin. Wet and organic stuff is strictly prohibited climbing into the bin.

A call from Josh...

2010-04-02T02:04:00.000-07:00

April was a month of roller coaster of physical and emotional experiences for me. Fun and colourful. As Tonio went to Europe for work, I stayed back in Penang doing the necessary preparations for the cafe. Being a less- organised other half, I do things much slower than if Tonio was around. I finally felt ooooooh, now that he's gone I don't have to always check my accounts daily !

One day, Josh called me. We had a chat. We went out for lunch. The next day he stayed over at mine.

No, it's not what you think.

Josh is a member of the Love Bus. He came to Penang three weeks ahead of time for a gig.

Love Bus soon filled the space of the official pre-opening of Soul Kitchen. After the honour of encountering the intellectual stimulating conversationalist Josh, I met talented vocalist Erin , cheerful sunshine Tab, then came Jason and Luisa, the Australian German love birds, and later came sweet Charlie boy.

They were having a great time warming up at Soul Kitchen with creatively painting their bus. The Love Bus, that is. Selina, a fun & sociable-part-time Penangite, joined in the irresistible fun.

They manged to finish the bus hours just before the gig.Credits go to that someone who bought a fridge on that day. I should've revealed earlier that it was a fridge box.With full confidence,
Charlie, led by Jason on the wheel of the bus that goes round and round, paraded down Muntri Street. They attracted a number of curious onlookers including my wonderful neighbours on our left. For their first gig in Malaysia, Love Bus played in Penang at 62, Weld Quay.

Josh met Andrea, a Chilean Chef who used to work in New Zealand and told her to go to Soul Kitchen to meet me up. Andrea came with Owen and together we baked the most amazing fish pizza man had ever eaten.

We finished the pizza before we could take any pics. Typical hungry pizza lovers.

the fun may begin....

2010-03-27T05:10:00.000-07:00

The messy job is done. YAY !

The logo of Soul Kitchen was laboriously hand painted by Tonio. It took him about five days to do it. Pretty professional, I must admit.

Soul Kitchen is born. A lot of soul put in the cooking and hopefully lots of soul music to refresh your little soul on sunny Penang island.

Julia, our warm and friendly French neighbour, was our first food taster. We had a brilliant evening. Casual was the dress code and timing for that evening. Julia postponed our invitation to an hour later. It was our pleasure meeting and inviting Julia for dinner. The next day, she invited us to hers for a farewell gathering. She was supposed to leave for France the day after, but delayed it for two more days. That's a whole chapter of reasons on its own.

Thought of displaying some herbs on the stairs, but we don't think it's such a good idea. we were told that some Penangites might just go pick one leave a day and by the end of the month, we would find our herbs all turned into bald-headed monks. Some green-looking leaves are just as good. The crates - they are really a steal. Got them from the market. Had to ask and beg the Chinese market sellers for them.

Vegetable seller : If you take the cauliflower as well, you can have the crate for free.

Me : Deal !

In this 50s Berlin briefcase, you will find books and guides that you do not need. But that's not the point. The point is the briefcase. We think it's a treasure. We had to haggle for a price for this briefcase. There is still a half torn sticker on it that states from South Station in 1957 in German. Really retro. The cocktail lounge chairs are placed there for the moment. They are retro as well. These chairs were not made in this era.Plan to arrange them seductively on the terrace outside, hopefully not to get caught by the MPPP. They are darn cool and pretty to sit on, sexy as well. You would look cool, too, if you were on it, sexy as well, especially drinking our espresso , poured from the percolator- yourself.

If you ever catch yourself bringing a laptop to Soul Kitchen ( you will be caught - of course not ) make sure you ask us for the password.

I like the perspective of the photograph. It wasn't taken by me, though, I am quite good at it.

we have moved in

2010-01-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

By early January 2010, we have moved in. There were lots and heaps and loads of cleaning waiting for us. We tackled it with smiles and groans ! Yooohooo....

When we were still in Germany, we had managed to contact a contractor. We had discussed what needed to be done roughly for the renovation. At this point of time, this was how our apartment looked like, not forgetting to mention the ferocious winter in the last four decades. Plain cruelty. I sold my winter boots and jackets when autumn ended. I had difficulties roaming about in Berlin for the last two weeks before we left.

By mid of January, the drilling and hammering finally started. A whirl of dust tornado began to come along. Heavenly ! We loved it. How else to embrace the dust ?

This is only a mild picture of what the tornado was. I thought I spared you the mess.

We are happy to move from the state of Berlin winter to the ever sunny Penang island. Penang is charming. It offers the big city life in a small town and the infamous Ferringhi beach. There are old colonial buildings located sporadically in Georgetown. The town planning is less than brilliant as you could see , right in the middle of shops, there is a temple. Another example is a mosque placed just 5 feet from another mosque. The genuine smiles and friendliness of the unpretentious people paint the backstage of sunny Penang.

the first encounter of the place

2009-03-13T01:18:00.000-07:00

Let me take you back to March 2009 when we first set eyes on this place in Penang.

We took a picture of this place ,as tourists,even before knowing that we would rent it. We were invited to view this place later on. We loved it as soon as we entered the doors. We wanted it !

The owner wanted to sell it, but we were no buyers. We wanted to be her new tenants. Landlady was curious about what our plans were. After some lengthy negotiations, we shook hands and had porridge for lunch. I remember asking landlady if she could reduce the rent !

HA ! Talking about paying lesser money to someone from Penang. No chance !

The next viewing was supposed to be checking of the premises. Landlady left for KL.

Met her up in KL a few days later. We talked and talked. She could really talk.

We signed the contract and left back for Germany.

Few months later, landlady informed us that the water piping was leaking and that she wanted to wait for us in 2010 to do the correction of piping !

No way of talking me into it !

So, landlady did the whole piping all over the premises. Very nice and kind of her.

Isn't that should be the way ?......