Welcome back to Women in Business, the series that sees us hanging out with amazing local female-identifying creatives, entrepreneurs and business owners, all with an aim of supporting local women and local business.
Today we’re chatting to Dee Kittimorakul, founder of the Kindness Café. This vegan Thai restaurant right here in our local hood was founded in 2016 as a place to practice the simple and sustainable lifestyle values of Dee’s childhood growing up in Thailand.
Dee also sells tasty take home curry pastes and sauces, while the restaurant kitchen has since changed hands over to Henry and Lily and been rebranded to Kindness Vegan Kitchen.
Get in touch with Kylie @ kindness-cafe.com
Know an amazing lady we could feature in this series? Let us know @ hello@darlogeneral.com
Dee, what keeps you busy?
Currently, it’s researching a Kindness Cafe Vegan Thai cookbook and how to run Vegan Thai cooking classes. I’m also working on creating new products to my Kindness Cafe Vegan Thai curry pastes and sauces range.
What inspires you?
Simplicity. Nature. A holistic approach to life. My family is from Mae Chan, a small town in Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand. I am very lucky to have grown up in the Thai community and experience culture in a home where my grandmother lived her whole life.
My grandma had recipes for all kinds of sickness and pain. When we felt sick, she would always use herbal remedies. I don't remember having to go to see a doctor as a child. At home we used cotton cloth to do the dishes, a mixture of charcoal and salt to brush our teeth, and coconut oil for our skin and hair.
Growing up in our little town, most people didn't have a car. We travelled by foot, bicycle or bus. In front of most houses, including ours, you would find a big clay pot full of water so passers-by could stop for a drink of cold water and a little chat.
We often exchanged food with our neighbours. Food was grown locally and mostly from a neighbour's backyard. There was no plastic used. Shopkeepers at the market would use banana leaves or teak leaves to wrap their goods. I am inspired to live simply in this way; to respect nature and local wisdom.
What's your favourite Darlinghurst haunt?
Kindness Cafe Vegan Thai restaurant. This is a place I have lovingly created, a place I get to see my beautiful friends, a place I get to meet amazing new friends. It is also a place I get to work with my lovely colleagues.
Where do you go to unwind?
I live in Epping, so I often go for a walk at the Lane Cove National Park. To be surrounded by nature makes me feel so peaceful.
What's your perfect Saturday look like?
Get up at 5am. Meditate for an hour. Make a delicious vegan breakfast for my mother and myself (I have brought my 75-year-old mum from Thailand to live with me).
Food shopping and preparing food for next week. Yoga or bushwalking in the afternoon. Then a dinner with my beautiful friends at a vegan restaurant.
Read a book. Be in bed by 10 pm. Heaven!
Get in touch with Kylie @ kindness-cafe.com
Know an amazing lady we could feature in this series? Let us know @