Love at First Bite

By Benjamin Malcolm

When you first bite into the cheesecake at Chiang Mai's "Love at First Bite," you are transported to a place far away. Your mind snaps back to the salient taste memories of cheesecake, real cheesecake and screams: "this is what I've missed!"

Then you begin to look around. You see apple pie, banana cream pie, coconut cream pie, quiches, cookies and all manner of confectionaries; more taste memories waiting to be explored. The bakery's refrigerators are full with them, tempting you to indulge, to plunge in and enjoy.

You would not be alone in this. "Love at First Bite's" reputation as the place for the best baked goods is growing day by day, giving the small bakery a steadily growing clientele. A bit difficult to find for the first-timer, this five-star bakery hides in the guise of an ordinary-looking house, tucked away in the alley-streets on the "other" side of the Ping River, off the Chiangmai-Lamphun Highway.

Customers are free to sit in the air-conditioned glassed-in dining room or opt for a meal out in the garden area, the brunch alcove on the lawn amidst trees and flowers. A driveway leads between these and to a small parking lot, hardly enough for the constant flow of traffic in and out. "Love at First Bite" places no ads in the local papers. It doesn't have to. Its advertising is accomplished solely by word of mouth.

Owner Jerry and owner/main baker Mattie S. Watana are an affable, welcoming pair, two people joined by a long-term marriage and love of food. My fianc? and I had the pleasure of joining them one sunny weekend morning, to discuss food, travels and the success of "Love at First Bite."

We arrived to the sound of building. Workmen are busy constructing a larger kitchen in a back corner of the yard, a future addition that will operate as the main kitchen and possible as a teaching studio for Mattie.

"That's my dream kitchen," she told us. "I don't have a kitchen any more, because it's a fulltime bakery … nothing is in the right place."

The Watanas were born in Chiang Mai, but lived in the United States for 27 years and travelled the length and breadth of the land during their stay there; he as a computer specialist and she as an employee of United Airlines. As they travelled, they explored their love of food, dining with friends, or on their own, trying out the regional cuisines.

It is a popular subject with the two of them, for they love to enjoy quality cuisine and they search for the best of food. During our conversation, we veer through subjects as diverse as the best Kow Soy noodles in Chiang Mai to the best lobster (Maine by a landslide). In Jerry's point of view, the search for good food should take you into the unexplored areas, the places off the beaten path - a bit like the location for "Love at First Bite" in fact.

He explained with one of the regional specialties in the U.S. - Mexican food.

"If I want to go to a real Mexican restaurant, it doesn't have to be expensive," he said. "You eat a burrito at Taco Bell and it won't taste as good as the one from a small mom and pop shop Mexican food. That I can tell. I can tell the difference."

The two of them work well together, each with their respective roles. Jerry acts as the "high-tech" marketing part of the operation, while Mattie mans the ovens. Mattie began her own training early enough. As a girl, she experimented with baking (her father worked with missionaries) and picked up early an appreciation of the skills and aptitudes of Western cuisine.

"I have loved to bake since I was a young girl. I never took any course or craft. Somebody up there probably gave it to me," Mattie said. "Since I was a young girl, I would make food for everybody in the house and make them eat it."

"She's got a talent," Jerry said, nodding in appreciation.

When they returned in 1992, the Watanas settled into their current home and Mattie kept experimenting with baking. At first, she baked for parties and special events, but as time went on, her skill in the kitchen became something of a legend and friends began ordering cakes from her. Jerry retired from his position at Telecom Asia and together, they decided to formally open the shop on July 4th, 1999.

Jerry remembers the first day.

"We picked it because of Independence Day. We wanted to declare to the people that we wanted to be independent. We don't work for anyone," he said. "Well, would you believe the first person to walk in was an American guy? It was an American guy and his wife. He just saw the sign and he walked in and ordered the chocolate cake."

From there, "Love at First Bite" was born.

My fianc? and I were given a sample of the delicious specialties during our visit, including the ever-popular blueberry cheesecake, a standard from Day One and the rich and creamy Black Russian cake with Kahlua. With a side of coffee, it was a brunch taste test made in heaven. The chocolate cake was rich and creamy (inciting yet another sharp taste memory). There is no "Thai taste" here to the baked goods, a product of using the finest ingredients available - such as cream cheese from Philadelphia, whipped cream from New York and chocolate from Belgium or Switzerland.

On the urging of our hosts, we also partook of a slice of Quiche, the crust of which melted in our mouths. We had tasted the chicken pot pie before, which had incited yet another memory from home, specifically of one of my favourite bakeries in New Hampshire. To go, we were given a slice of Mattie's newest creation, Grasshopper Pie, a sweet minty concoction fresh out of the imagination of the hostess.

"I create new stuff all the time," she said. "People want to try new things. When I start something new, it goes fast. And if it keeps on going, I keep it and if it doesn't go, then I stop it."

"Love at First Bite" keeps a menu of popular standards (the blueberry cheesecake and chocolate "town" cake are always big sellers), while offering new taste sensations every month. There were just over 20 selections when we visited, ranging from banana cream pie (her favourite) to the macadamia-nut covered Hawaiian Cheesecake. With this blend of innovation and popular standards, "Love at First Bite" stakes a firm claim to its five-star bakery status.

"People in Thailand … they want to open a bakery, so they open a bakery," Jerry said. "They look at a recipe, they take a six month course and they start baking. But put it this way - if you have never eaten it, how can you make a cheesecake the way the cheesecake should taste like? You have to know what it tastes like to make it."

At "Love at First Bite," they have that knowledge, making this home-run bakery the place to go for delicious baked goods and sweet memories in Chiang Mai.