Crave is a very successful restaurant here on the island which was started by Valerie and her friend Myriam.
They realised that expats and tourists on Koh Phangan were craving for good comfort food made with high quality ingredients. Their idea was to offer them a little taste of home in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
In May 2010, after many months of hard work, legal paperwork, joy, deception, laughter, frustration, etc., they finally opened Crave Restaurant and Lounge!
Since then, they have been satisfying the cravings of travelers and Koh Phangan locals with their now famous ‘sexy burgers’, cheeky pork ribs, French Canadian ‘poutine’ and more!
Leo Beer took Phanganist down to catch up with Valerie at Crave which is now located in Sri Thanu…
Hi Valerie, so Crave moved location recently, how is the new location here in Sri Thanu doing?
I didn’t have much time to make it all happen. It was a quick move but we love it. I had to do the whole place in two weeks, all the construction and putting together a restaurant.
When I opened in Haad Yao in 2010, there was nothing else on the street so I stood out quite a lot on that dark stretch of road. Even on a second floor. Over the years, they added a 7/11 and other shops but we stayed busy because of our reputation.
Now we stand out more here in our new location but we unfortunately lost all of our previous reviews on Tripadvisor. I was like ‘Oh my god, my whole life has been erased’ but we do have a good base of locals and returning customers still.
Tell us about the food at Crave Restaurant…
I’m French Canadian from Quebec and came here with my friend Myriam on holiday, we stayed one month and loved it but craved good fries and burgers! Back then it was just Thai food or Italian.
I had experience in restaurants but had never owned one so we had to come up with something easy as we were not trained chefs!
Seven years later we still sell burgers, ten different kinds, but we also have homemade fries, poutine which is fries, cheese and gravy, crunchy salads, BBQ ribs and wings as our menu is mostly American/Canadian food.
Our homemade desserts are very popular. They are ‘fat’ ones, the ones you shouldn’t have after a burger but you still do! Our current kitchen chef, Eddy, is an American too!
Have you had a stand out experience from owning a business here on Koh Phangan?
When you make the choice to move here, that is already a big experience! Running a business on Koh Phangan has it's ups and downs and to be living here you have to be strong and mostly patient. I am still learning every day!
This island has so much to offer even with its struggles, this is definitely where I should be in my life right now, you work past the bitter moments.
Think how many people are wishing for our lives! My Mum said to me this week, ‘Why can’t you just dream normally?!’.
Leave us with your life philosophy…
Wow, what a question… like Aristotle once said,
You're never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
I'll be 40 years old this year and I have no plans to go anywhere if I end up selling my business. Koh Phangan is my home. Life is sweet here!
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