Café challenges with freshly made light meals & golden risotto with silky texture

▲ Approaching lunchtime, ordering a coffee along with a plate of “freshly made” light meal is a more convenient choice for office workers. (Photo / Reporter Chen Zi-Yin)

Reporter Chen Zi-Yin / Taipei Report

Drinking coffee seems to have become a habit for modern people. Whether it’s the youth or office workers, holding a cup of coffee is how many start their day. In urban life filled with cafés of all sizes, coffee takes center stage in the city. Domestic chain operators believe coffee can be perfectly paired with “light meals,” so they deliver fresh ingredients to their branches to create brunch cafés that offer “made-to-order” meals.

Wang Group’s Famonn Coffee has been making its way into the coffee market for a year and a half, striving to carve out a different path in the fiercely competitive industry. Wang Group Vice Chairman Wang Guo-Xiong said: “Famonn Coffee is different from other café groups. Our customers have higher expectations for coffee, and we also sense that Taiwan’s light meal market is booming. We believe café light meals can break away from the conventional method of using pre-packaged meals. We hope to offer refined yet affordable made-to-order meals in cafés for customers to enjoy.”

Among the French-style light meals launched by Famonn Coffee this time is the “Porcini and Wild Mushroom Risotto,” made with mushrooms imported from France. Chef Cao Zhi-Fu said: “Porcini has a silky and delicate texture with a subtle nutty aroma, making it suitable for many dishes, which is why we chose porcini as the star ingredient.”

Regarding the cooking method for the Porcini and Wild Mushroom Risotto, Chef Cao Zhi-Fu explained that first, olive oil is added, followed by porcini. The porcini is first prepared by simmering dried porcini with broth for 10 to 15 minutes, then seasoning and turning it into a broth before incorporating it into the wild mushroom risotto. After the porcini is sautéed until golden, wild mushrooms (button mushrooms and shiitake) are added and also sautéed until lightly golden. Vegetables are then added to enhance the flavor, along with Thai jasmine rice, and everything is stir-fried together. After plating, cheese shreds are added and the dish is baked in the oven. The finished risotto is fragrant, with every bite delivering the sweet and silky taste of porcini.


▲ Left: Thai rice is stir-fried with porcini, seasonal vegetables, and shiitake until thickened, then it's ready to serve. Right: Cheese shreds are added and the dish is baked in the oven until it achieves a golden-brown surface for the best texture. (Photo / Reporter Chen Zi-Yin)


▲ Wang Group Vice Chairman Wang Guo-Xiong serves as a one-day store manager, handing out the light meal “Porcini and Wild Mushroom Risotto” to customers. (Photo / Reporter Chen Zi-Yin)

From April 22 to the end of May, Famonn Coffee is offering an additional promotion: every Monday, when you order a large cup of coffee, you can enjoy a 50% discount on any light meal set for dine-in.
Participating branches: Famonn Coffee Guangfu North Branch, Jinzhou Branch.
Promotion dates: 4/22, 4/29, 5/6, 5/13, 5/20, 5/27.