Lisa Nesser arrived in Thailand in 2004 after working with Tibetan refugees in India and Bosnian refugees in Missouri. She won 250,000 baht from a Citylife charity event to launch the cafe in 2009 as a self-sustaining model that wouldn’t depend on international donors. The cafe closes at 4 PM so students can attend evening classes at Thai Freedom House, a language and arts centre for indigenous people and refugees.
The plant-based menu centres on Shan cuisine: Shan noodles, tea leaf salad, and Burmese curries, with almond and coconut milk made in-house. Free Bird was Chiang Mai’s first business to ban plastic straws, and a zero-waste kitchen works with local organic farmers.