STYLISH NEWCOMERS ADD SPICE TO YANGON’S RESTAURANT SCENE
MYANMAR COUNTRY CODE
+95
EXCHANGE RATE
MMK992 = US$1
YANGON FREQUENCY
4 flights per day from Bangkok, 4 flights per week from Chiang Mai
FAHTHAI
113
TEXT: THOMAS KEAN
Bar hopping in Yangon; luxury
accommodation inNay Pyi
Taw; the best barbecue spots
Myanmar
ON THE GRILL
Try modern Asian
at Gekko, set up
in the century-old
Sofaer building
Y A N G O N
THEGUIDE
Your timing with Union couldn't
have been much better, could it?
When we opened there was very
little else around and it took
off very quickly. It didn’t take
long for us to decide to do a few
more restaurants. That said,
Yangon needs a whole lot more
– it would take 10 or 20 similar
places to open before we started
cannibalising each other.
Gekko must have posed particular
challenges given its location in the
century-old Sofaer building.
We fell in love with the building
before we knew what to do
with it. We wanted to showcase
what it would have looked like
back in its prime. But very old
buildings obviously have their
own challenges. There’s the
sewage, electricals, installing air
con – we even had to find a way
to squeeze a generator inside.
Is downtown Yangon your
favourite part of the city?
Absolutely. I just think it’s
beautiful. It has to be the best-
preserved in South-East Asia. It’s
stunning and I love just walking
around and bumping into all
these fantastic old buildings
and finding out their history
– and whether they could be
the next project for us. There
are disadvantages though. Not
that many people want to use
[heritage buildings] because of
the work and expense involved.
From where else do you draw
inspiration?
For Gekko, I was inspired by a
place in Hong Kong called The
Yardbird; I’d never seen such
a long queue outside a place
before! Our menu is also based
around yakitori, but rather than
be pigeonholed as a Japanese
restaurant we also have Korean
and Thai dishes.
How involved were you personally
in the conception of the
restaurants?
When we were preparing to
open Union we partnered with
Long Lunch Concepts, an outfit
from Hong Kong. They’ve been
involved less and less as we’ve
gone on. For the design on
Gekko, I worked closely with
a local firm, Spine Architects.
While I had an idea of what I
wanted, it was also defined by
what’s available here in Yangon.
What kind of logistical challenges
does Yangon pose?
The supply of food and alcohol
is the main issue. It takes months
and you can be unsure if it’s all
going to arrive. That said, it’s an
exciting time to be here.
N
ico Elliott doesn’t consider himself a
foodie, but many Yangon gourmands
might disagree. The entrepreneur
demonstrated his foodie flair in April
last year when he unveiled
Union Bar & Grill
on Yangon’s historic Strand Road. It brought a
dollop of class and high-quality eats to Yangon’s
burgeoning restaurant-and-bar scene. His
company, 57 Below focuses on design, ambience
and top-drawer dishes, and has since branched
out into Asian cuisine with the opening of
Gekko
and into gourmet pizza with the unveiling of
Parami Pizza.
And there might be more to come.
Shaking up
the dining
scene
Entrepreneur Nico Elliot’s
ventures helped kick off a new
wave of high-end hangouts
