For years, these Chinese merchants (a father and his son) ran the Foojohn Company on Charoenkrung Soi 31. When they decided to discontinue the business, a group of entrepreneurs swooped in to acquire the classic five-story shophouse the company was located in, preventing the razing of yet another heritage structure. Keeping the name Foojohn, the shophouse has been reincarnated as a retro-style, East-meets-West restaubar. The first and second floors are now complete, unveiled as a bar called Foudejoie, while the top floors are dedicated to a beer bar and a steakhouse to be managed by a different group.
Walk into Foudejoie and you are greeted with dim lighting and a nostalgic vibe set to mimic a ’70s Hong Kong-style bistro. Decked out with a long wall-length mirror, booth seats and old-school mosaic tiles, it’s a setting you can easily imagine in one of Hong Kongese director Wong Kar-wai’s films.
Expect light, Parisian-style bites such as cured meat and cheese served on a chopping board, as well as savory and sweet crêpes. Go for the Parisienne, which combines dried ham, raclette cheese, egg and chives (B200) or the Foie Gras (B240), which plays up the creamy texture of goose liver bits mixed with the bittersweet tang of liquor-infused raisins. The bistro also prides itself on its affordable selection of top-quality French wines (startsfrom B140/a glass).
Upstairs, a Prohibition-themed cocktail bar is lorded over by chatty French mixologist Antoine Loubry. Disclosing a preference for French produced spirits, Loubry whips up spirit-forward concoctions inspired by classic recipes from The Savoy Cocktail Book such as the Prohibition-inspired 12Mile Limit, which combines rum, whiskey, cognac, lemon and grenadine (B320), and the strong yet refreshing Satan Whiskers (gin, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth,triple sec, orange juice and orange bitters, B380).
