Savouring 'Cili Padi' Panini in London

By Hazlinda Hamzah LONDON, April 22 (Bernama) -- "I now have two cafés - in Bow and Whitechapel at East End of London. There, I make my own bread, cakes, croissants and other Malaysian delicacies. "Ever since I have stayed in England, since 2006, I found it quite difficult to enjoy halal food, and I found that frustrating. Hence, I decided to ask my husband to consider investing in the food business," Noor Azlina Zainal Abidin, who is the co-owner of Lemon Tree Café, told Bernama here recently. This mother of a four-year-old boy attended secondary school at the Mara Junior College (MRSM) in Balik Pulau, Pulau Pinang. Noor Azlina later pursued tertiary education at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Lendu, Melaka. According to Noor Azlina, who is also the chef at both of the cafés, the two premises were opened just a week apart last March and were well received by local residents. "Alhamdulillah, the two cafés are continuously receiving patrons from near and far, now that it is more talked about within the local community," said Noor Azlina, who harboured owning a business since young. IDEA STORE There are two Lemon Tree Cafés in the East End of London - in Whitechapel and Bow. Both are situated in an Idea Store or a small library, where the local community would frequent to interact actively. They would do this in person or via the internet as free Wi-Fi is available in most libraries and museums in London. The four-storey Idea Store in Whitechapel is not very big but is spacious enough to see every seat being taken up, mostly by adult students from a nearby university, where the main campus of Queen Mary, University of London, is located. The writer was fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend two hours one Tuesday morning with Noor Azlina and her husband, Mohamed Ridzwan Grenville Peter Mills. Their business entity was formed in 2011, following the success of operating the Malaysian High Commission’s café in Belgrave Square. "We were subsequently invited by Matrade (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation) to manage and supply the VIP ‘marquee’ or tent at the annual Trafalgar Square Malaysian Night celebrations in 2012. "Since then, we have been invited to be the lead sponsor at the annual Nottingham University Food Festival and other national catering events. Based on our success, particularly at the Malaysian High Commission's café, Azi’s Kitchen & Catering was invited by the internationally renowned Bromley-by-Bow Community Centre in East London to provide catering services at their Pie in the Sky Café," she said. Last February, Azi’s Kitchen & Catering, which manages and operates the Lemon Tree Cafés, won the prestigious contract to manage and operate the Idea Store cafés in Whitechapel and Bow. And the ‘husband and wife’ business partners recently re-branded the two cafés into their Lemon Tree projects. CONSUMER-FRIENDLY The food at the Lemon Tree Cafés is consumer-friendly priced and unique in its own way. "We believe customers want healthy, fresh and nutritious food at realistic prices. We set our dishes at a ceiling price of £5 (US$7.62). "About 10 of our menu items are changed weekly to ensure there is always something new and exciting. Our focus is Southeast Asian cuisine, but you will see that we have developed a cosmopolitan variety to suit all tastes," Noor Azlina smilingly told the writer, who was served the café’s special ‘nasi lemak' (coconut rice), fried noodles and ‘sardin cili padi’ (hot chillies sardine) panini. A panini is a grilled sandwich made on Italian breads. The café's panini is a favourite among many patrons, including expatriates and locals within the community. CULINARY SKILLS How and when did Noor Azlina sharpen her culinary skills? "Upon getting married, we travelled to many countries. I had encouraged Azlina to pursue her culinary interests. So, she took on different courses and attended various simple food classes in different countries. "I believe that was when her interests started to develop, and this café idea started to become a reality. Azlina has created her version of her grandmother’s nasi lemak and Malaysian deserts like the onde-onde," said Mohamed Ridzwan. Noor Azlina has a dream; she intends to build a network of similar cafés throughout London and the United Kingdom as well as compete for the lunch-time market, which is currently dominated by established names such as Starbucks, Eat, Costa and Pret, among others in the vicinity. "During my childhood, I helped my grandmother, who herself was an entrepreneur, selling her famous nasi lemak in Bukit Mertajam. She was selling this food for 50 years, and I have this desire to make her nasi lemak famous all over the world one day," said Noor Azlina, who had watched how her grandmother managed the food business. "We are looking into the training and recruitment of local personnel, where we concentrate on the use of local services, and, where possible, the supplies which are in the provision of affordable café food to the community in East London as well," she said. At the moment, Noor Azlina has seven full-time and three part-time workers to help out in the daily operations of the two cafés. "We employ the unemployed, and they are grateful. Their average wage is £990 (US$1,509.02) before tax, and they are very happy to receive it. We also employ jobless youngsters at the café and train them under the Government Apprenticeship programme," Mohamed Ridzwan said. Azi’s Kitchen and Catering plans to open a chain of 20 cafés throughout London in the next five years - an aspiration this Malaysian businesswoman and her husband positively hold on to. (photoBERNAMA) MALAYSIA