It took us a long time to name this place. We picked a few names and threw them all away.
Our problem was that we wanted to open early. Breakfast, coffee. But by late morning someone always wants a glass of wine, and here you cannot pour one until eleven. We spent a while being annoyed by that rule. Then we found out the Spanish already have a name for exactly that hour. They call it la hora del vermut. The vermouth hour.
Over there, on a day off, before lunch, people sit down together, order one cold vermut and a small plate of olives, and talk. Nobody is drinking to get drunk. It is just how the neighborhood says hello. They have been doing it for a hundred years.
The word itself is not something clever we invented. It is the name of a plant, from the German Wermut, wormwood, a bitter herb that grows on dry ground. Before refrigeration people steeped it in wine to preserve it and to use it as medicine. The wine took the name of the herb.
The man who turned it into a business was Carpano, in Turin, in 1786. Turin is also a city where cafés have long served coffee in the morning and something stronger at night. Once we knew that, we stopped pretending we had invented anything. We just moved something a city has been doing for 240 years onto a walking street in Pai.
Here the vermouth hour is 11:00 to 14:00. You do not have to wait for dark.
VERMUT CAFÉ breakfast · wine · cocktail
The name, in three layers
We spent a long time naming this place. The real starting point was not a drink but a time of day: we wanted to open early, and by late morning someone always wants a glass of wine. In Spain that hour already has a name — la hora del vermut, the vermouth hour — when neighbours sit down with one cold vermut and a plate of olives and talk. That is the feeling we wanted.
The word itself comes from the German Wermut, wormwood, a bitter herb. Before refrigeration people steeped it in wine to keep the wine and to use it as medicine. The wine took the name of the herb. Italians and Spaniards spell it vermut; we do too.
In 1786 Antonio Benedetto Carpano opened a shop in Turin and turned vermouth into a business. Turin is a city where cafés have long served coffee in the morning and something stronger at night. We did not invent anything — we moved something a city has been doing for 240 years onto a walking street in Pai.
The facts
Vermut Café Wine & Cocktail is a restaurant and wine bar at 35/1 Walking Street, Wiang Tai, Pai, Mae Hong Son 58130, Thailand. It opened in October 2026 at the address that was The Bottle & Cat's Whiskers; bartender Sammy still works here. It is open every day from 17:00 to 00:00, with last orders at 23:30; there is no breakfast or daytime service. Seating is walk-in only and no reservations are taken. The menu is wine by the glass (120 ml, poured to a marked line), cocktails, beer, vermouth, mocktails, coffee and small plates; street food from the Walking Street stalls may be eaten at the table. Dogs are welcome. Phone +66 97 153 6565. Cash and cards accepted.