Leo Beer took Phanganist to go to see our lovely friends Andrew and Natalya in their magical wonderland of Tidbit bakery and cafe in Thong Sala…
Hi Natalya so why did you decide to come and live on Koh Phangan?
I finished my studies at University and Andrew was going to be here on Koh Phangan so I decided to come with my daughter. We came here and that is just the beginning of our Koh Phangan story…
Have you always wanted to have a cafe?
Yes, when Andrew was working with Simiram Festival I was at home thinking about what I wanted to do here and my speciality at Uni was in management.
I really love cooking and making cakes and sweets so I decided to open this place. I always had a dream to create a home and a place with a special atmosphere, something interesting which is not like anywhere else. I decided to do it all myself even though I was not a professional cook. Me and my Mum started cooking new cakes and sweets that we didn’t know before, it was not easy for us at first, I remember with my mom we were cooking cakes all night and in the morning we would be very tired and would have to go home. We would sleep for only a few hours, it was a very difficult time but we always knew why we were doing it...we do it for our dream!
Now our motto is ‘All cooking with love for you’ and it is true that all of our cakes we make with love for our customers!
Where did the name ‘Tidbit’ come from?
I wanted to have a mirror image, an interesting spelling and in Russian it translates as a really tasty piece of cake!
I also have a twin sister who’s name is Oksana (I call her and Ksu or Ksusha). So TidbiT is like the mirror image of me and my sister as well so that is why this name is very suitable for my family, we miss her very much but she will soon come to Koh Phangan also.
Tell us about the theme and unique artwork you have here…
I sat with my Mum on the beach thinking about ideas and I came up with the Alice in Wonderland story. My Mum said that I'm an adult but in the soul I am the child and it is true! I love to dream, sometimes I think like a naive child even though I am an adult woman and a mother myself!
I am like Alice in her dreams and that is why we decided to make a little piece of history about Alice in wonderland for the interior.
We found professional artist Christopher from Star Lab Industries and he realised my idea, he did an amazing job and what we wanted, he did for us. My husband helped us with this interior too! He made all my ideas that I have decided to bring to life. He worked with lights in our cafe, the tables which change color was my idea but he helped me to implement it.
I think it’s a special story, first of all it is my little story, a story about the dream of a girl and and her family and loved ones. Big thanks to my Mum for believing in me and my husband!
The theme also fits Koh Phangan really well, both for children and adults.
I am always interested in interior design and I have a lot of creative ideas in my head. I have many good and interesting ideas for other places and if anybody wants help then I am always ready to help with good and memorable ideas for your interior.
So your Mum makes all the cakes now?
When we opened she came here to help and then she decided that she wanted to do it all together with us as a family. Now she has a lot of experience making delicious cakes and she likes Koh Phangan and being here to work.
Where did your love of sweet things come from?
When I was pregnant, Andrew would be at work so I would always be making something sweet as I really wanted to eat sweet things at the time so I would make muffins and cakes etc…
What’s your favourite cake?
A special chocolate cake with strawberries and also a Nepoleon which is cooked by my Mum so it makes it extra special to me.
What are you hopes for the future?
We want to start to offer not just cakes but other food also and special shakes with ice cream and cookies. We think our new menu will have healthy breakfasts and good home food for all our visitors. We want to do healthy and tasty food for all people whether it be vegetarian, gluten free, meat and fish.
And of course sweet and healthy cakes and good coffee!
You have lovely children, what is it like having a family on Koh Phangan?
My Mum brought my two nephews who are twins like me and my sister to come and live here so it’s me, my daughter, my nephews, Mummy and my husband.
It’s nice because Koh Phangan is a place of the heart and I like to do everything as a family.
The children are glad as they get more freedom and they are happy to have beaches and nice nature around them.
What you to do when you have free time?
I spend it with my husband, daughter, nephews and Mum, sometimes with my friends as well!
If I am to be honest, my free time is not very often because I think ‘free time’ is time for myself, but time has shown me that I need my family, so now my own free time is rare…
You have other interesting projects with your husband here also…
Our life in Koh Phangan is very diverse… My husband is a very talented lighting and video DJ. It is a very interesting profession.
Now he works with the most cool party on Koh Phangan, Jungle Experience! I really love this big Jungle family! This party has given us great help in realising our plans. First of all it is of course Andrew’s work but also for me it is an opportunity to open a little pastry shop at Jungle, a big thanks Georgia and Pi Chai who gave us this opportunity!
Besides doing the video and light show, Andrew got carried away and decided to do dome projection. He built a dome projection himself and the idea was for the dome to come alive and we decided to do something together, something beautiful that benefits all so the idea was born of a shop with cupcakes for the dome. The owners of the party kindly allowed our idea to come to life so now I cook with love all the cakes for customers and all team at Jungle.
If you haven’t gone to Jungle Experience party with amazing decorations, unreal costumes, talented artists, a dancing show, famous DJs and a cool atmosphere then you can buy tickets here in TidbiT bakery.
And leave us with your life philosophy…
I want to be the perfect Mum,the perfect wife and to do something for our future so that my family can live without problems,it is all for our children and my ‘crazy family’
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