Butter + Beans @ The Row

By Cindy Low • 15 Jul 2015 in Venues

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The Butter and Beans brand has been around for quite some time as it had its first and main outlet in Happy Mansion at PJ Section 17. It has since spawned into a viable franchise where you’ll see various cafés of the same name in areas such as OUG, Menjalara, and now, a newly minted one at The Row.

To those who aren’t familiar (read the physical copy of our July issue!), The Row is the ol’ infamous Asian Heritage Row where expatriates and tourists would flock to before Changkat flourished into what it is today. From what co-partner of this Butter and Beans, Kien, revealed to us, The Row is currently under development to be revamped into a haunt for a market of people who could patronise shops from a well-known urban streetwear brand, a vintage bookstore, and a skateboarding shop (all of which are said to be in the works). Currently, other than the fourth and latest franchise of Butter and Beans, there is only the nyonya restaurant Limapulo, pop-up bar 44, café-boutique League of Captains, and a hidden bar called Mojo.

Kien had narrowed the premise for the franchise to either the F&B-riddled and therefore highly competitive area of Damansara Uptown or this new space that posed plenty of potential. After returning from studies in Melbourne, he got a job in digital marketing but had always wanted to open up his own cafe. Having had firsthand account of the rich coffee culture in the Australian city, he found the same quality of coffee and atmosphere in the homely Butter and Beans in Happy Mansion. After a two-week training at the very outlet, Kien was well on his way of overseeing his own café along with his business partner.

The exterior of the barely two-month old or so Butter and Beans looks like a picturesque café that can very well fit into the kind of shop houses distinctive of Europe and maybe even New York. Unlike the Happy Mansion branch, this one is significantly more spacious but still retaining an essential interior design template indicative of its other outlets. For one, it’s got a large cartoon bear spouting the coffee menu on a black lacquered wall – the sort of kitschy twee-ness familiar to those who had frequented its predecessors. Then, the deco sticks to a palette of black, yellow, and wooden accents. The café remains true to Butter and Beans’ ethos of having its menu focus on coffee and pastries. Though at the time of our visit, this café wasn’t as well stocked with those golden, flaky baked goods – it could possibly be due to the outlet’s newness.

Even though Kien took this franchise opportunity as a way to get himself acquainted with the F&B business, seeing him eagerly serving and talking to customers, it’s obvious that the young fellow is thoroughly invested in the franchise for the long run.