Baking by Day.
Rolling at Night.

Stay Cafe opens at 7am. Most mornings I’m there before the second customer arrives. If I’m there by 7:30 I’m greeted with “you’re late.”

It’s run by Ake and Psy, a couple who work together and train together. Both roll with us most evenings on the mat. Stay sits on one of the better breaks along Mae Ram Phueng, so Psy will often finish a session, paddle out for a surf, then go home and put another set of squats away before bed. Whatever’s left in the tank gets used. And there’s a lot in the tank.

She goes fully in. Kitchen, mat, anything she puts her mind to — she works at it until it’s right, and her version of right is stricter than most. The croissants are the current example. Eight attempts in. To anyone walking past the counter they look finished — laminated, golden, the proper shape. Psy notices things the rest of us don’t. So they’re not on the menu yet. When they are, you’ll know they’re ready.

Three kilometres down Mae Ram Phueng, halfway along the beach. Coffee that’s been thought about. Sourdough with a crust that holds and a crumb worth slowing down for. The kind of food you think about the next morning before you’ve opened your eyes.

There was a time I’d sit at Stay for two hours, working through a flat white with whoever from the retreat had wandered down. That window has closed. Running the property means duty calls earlier in the day, and most mornings now it’s a single coffee and back. But the bread, the eggs, the people behind the counter — none of that has changed.

What to order

A few things I order, in case you go:

• Avocado, poached eggs, sundried tomatoes. I add bacon. You should too.
• Chicken pesto pasta. Lunch, not breakfast. Worth the walk down at midday if you’ve earned it.

If you go

Hours

Open 7am to 3pm. Closed when they close.

Walk

About 40 minutes down the beach from the retreat.

Bike

About 10 minutes.

Language

Both Ake and Psy speak English.

Tip

Tell them you’re staying with us.