I was witness to so many firsts during this Bhutan trip:
• First time a Singapore based chef trains nuns to bake in Bhutan
• Launch of the first cafe operated by nuns in Bhutan
• First cafe honouring Britisher Marilyn Silverstone who dedicated her life to promoting understanding of Himalayan kingdoms.
I first met chef Wythe Ng Beng Soon in 2020. We call him Ah Soon, lah.
Ah Soon hails from a traditional Chinese baker family in Sekinchan, Selangor state, Malaysia.
Came to Singapore at age 15, Ah Soon worked his guts out, honed his skills at Baker & Cook, Asanoya Boulangerie, Keong Saik Bakery, and Bakery Brera where I first met him in 2020. Ah Soon has since launched his own La Levain Cafe and J'aime Bakehouse (at Changi Airport T3 basement).
Truth be told, I didn't get to know Ah Soon well during those intervening five years. But, from this trip I learned that he is a man with a very kind heart. Huge respect for the big hearted guy.
For nearly a week, Ah Soon imparted his expertise to nuns at Shechen Nunnery in the Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan. No holds barred, voluntary, self funded basis (Ah Soon paid for his own expenses and provided the training, including required ingredients which he lugged from Singapore, free of charge to Shechen Nunnery).
After the training, Ah Soon didn't have the previlege to see the beautiful country. He flew straight home without stopping a moment for sightseeing as many things were waiting for him to do in his Singapore businesses and at home.
Schedule was tight. We had a lot of distance to cover - 170km of winding mountain road from Paro east to the Phobjikha Valley.
After arriving at Paro International Airport, we were whisked to Jabcho Ugyen Pema Choling Gonga Monastery for a welcome ceremony and attended prayers.
We then proceeded to Phobjikha Valley via Thimphu (where we had dinner and a night's rest).
Arriving at the gate of Shechen Nunnery in the Phobjikha Valley in Bhutan, the next morning.
Ngenlung Drechagling Lhakhang སྔས/སྔོན་ལུང་འབྲས་བཅག་གླིང་ལྷ་ཁང་། Monastery at Shechen Nunnery. We quickly blended into the monastery / nunnery's environment and routine.
Nuns were preparing offering cakes for prayer sessions.
Setting the altars before prayers.
A typical day at the nunnery starts (and ends) with prayers at the monastery.
This week, something different was planned. A chef flew in from Singapore to teach the nuns how to brew espresso, pour lattes, and bake pastries, breads and cookies.
The nuns' enthusiasm was inspiring.
New experiences are fun.
First time I am seeing a nun pour a latte.
Joy of pulling off a latte successfully.
Presenting the master with her first latte.
Taste test. We drunk a lot of espressos and lattes that week 🤣
So good.
I was a happy guinea pig but lattes are fattening 😂
Warms the hands, and the cockles of the heart.
Now, let's make some bread.
Precision. No agak agak (estimation in Malay language), chef set a solid foundation and the right mindset from the start.
Time for the heat test.
Rinpoche took a personal interest in the training, spending time in the kitchen with chef and the nuns.
Time will reveal everything.
The moment of truth.
Masterchef's smile said it all.
Seal of approval from rinpoche too.
Tasting the fruits of their own labour of love. It's extra sweet but not in the sugary sense.
OK 👌!
The cookies and breads were delicious! The nuns treasured the opportunity with chef and did their best to learn as much as possible.
The taste and mouth feel showed they understood and imbibed the lessons well.
Joy all around.
Yeah, I ate a lot of buttery cookies too during the week. Chef said Bhutanese butter is world class (all organic milk fat with nothing added) and perfect for cookies.
The nuns took very careful notes of the recipes and methods.
Most Bhutanese are proficient in English. In school, they are taught Dzongkha, the national language, and all other subjects such as maths, science, geography, etc., are taught in English. Bhutanese speak grammatical, relatively accent and slang free English with clear diction.
The recipes in good hands, now part of the nunnery's treasures.
Mission accomplished!
After the intensive training week, a brief moment to take in the expansive view of Phobjikha Valley.
Among the grazing cattle, you will notice black and white specks in
Phobjikha Valley. These were black neck cranes which come from Tibet during the winter.
The cranes choose Phobjikha Valley to pass the winter because food is plentiful and the wet land gives it protection.
Rinpoche shared that the cafe is named Ani Marilyn Cafe in honour of Marilyn Silverstone.
Marilyn Rita Silverstone (9 March 1929 - 28 September 1999) was an English photojournalist and ordained Buddhist nun who dedicated her life to promoting understanding of Himalayan kingdoms.
The centrepiece of the cafe is a mini gallery showcasing a sampling of Marilyn Rita Silverstone's photography which spanned at least four decades.
Rinpoche blessed the nuns of the nunnery and cafe.
Everyone was very appreciative of chef Wythe Ng.
Drink coffee, eat bread and cookies with Ngenlung Drechagling Lhakhang སྔས/སྔོན་ལུང་འབྲས་བཅག་གླིང་ལྷ་ཁང་། Monastery in the background.
Relax with a long view and everlasting memories of Phobjikha Valley.
Ani Marilyn Cafe is officially opened!
Come to Phobjikha Valley, see the black neck cranes and visit Ani Marilyn Cafe at Shechen Nunnery & Ngenlung Drechagling Lhakhang སྔས/སྔོན་ལུང་འབྲས་བཅག་གླིང་ལྷ་ཁང་། Monastery.
One of the rare cafes in the world where nuns serve you freshly brewed coffee, pour latte as well as artisanal hand crafted bread, cookies, pastries straight from the hot oven ....
... with soft buttery dough they lovingly kneaded from scratch with their own hands. The revenue from Ani Marilyn Cafe goes towards Shechen Nunnery's running costs and expenses.
Restaurant name: Ani Marilyn Gallery and Café
Address: C6P3+55Q, Bhutan
Written by Tony Boey on 10 Dec 2025
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