Chef Suda Oun-in in front of Thai D Jing in Gretna — Photo courtesy of Thai D Jing
New Orleans is an epic food city that draws hungry eaters intent on slurping fresh Gulf seafood and Creole dishes, influenced by French, Spanish, African and Italian cooking. However, the Big Easy has not been known for its Thai cuisine — until now. Since March 2020, when many restaurants were shuttering, five Thai restaurants have opened in New Orleans, and all of them are owned and run by Thai-born women chefs.
Thai D Jing
Chef Suda Oun-in in front of Thai D Jing in Gretna — Photo courtesy of Thai D Jing
Chef Suda Oun-in creates food at her Gretna restaurant, Thai D Jing, that is complex, refined and full of flavor. After working as a hotel banquet chef in Thailand, the Chiang Rai native transferred with Marriott to New Orleans, where she met and married her husband, Jeerasak Boonlert. What started as a food pop-up at the local farmers market graduated to a food truck and, ultimately, Thai D-Jing Restaurant on the Mississippi River's west bank in August 2020.
One of Oun-in’s simpler dishes is her favorite: green curry soup. Her rendition of the popular street dish, served with jasmine rice, includes green curry paste in a coconut broth with eggplant, bell pepper and onion. It's a soul-warming soup with layers of flavor, and the chef's go-to when she wants something warm and comforting, a throwback to her Thai heritage. A few other dishes to try include: chicken wings, stuffed with a savory blend of glass noodles, fresh herbs and grated vegetables, and Chef Oun-in's ginger salmon, lightly smoked and served in a broth of fresh ginger, bell pepper and onion. Her addictive, dairy-free coconut ice cream is the perfect sweet ending.
Thaihey Nola
Chef Orawin "Nim" Yimchalam Greene at Thaihey Nola — Photo courtesy of Star Chefs
“Thailand is hot like New Orleans,” says chef Orawin “Nim” Yimchalam Greene, who opened Thaihey Nola in the French Quarter with husband, Nathan Greene, in November 2022. “I feel very at home here.”
The couple met in the Bay area, married in 2017 and then moved to Louisiana to be closer to Greene’s family. The couple originally opened Thaihey in the White Star Market in Baton Rouge in 2019. When the pandemic shuttered it, the Greenes decided to move to New Orleans in search of more adventurous customers. Orawin grew up in the hospitality business, working in her mother’s restaurant in her hometown of Lopburi, north of Bangkok. She worked at hotels in Bangkok, for Princess Cruises and then at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California.
Her menu riffs on traditional Thai dishes. Green curry is served with grilled eggplant rounds, Louisiana crawfish and tricolor cheese tortellini topped with flash-fried Thai basil. Plahang tangmo, a salad created for the king of Thailand, consists of a square slice of watermelon covered with crumbles of dried local catfish, sugar, salt and fried shallots — a mix of flavors and textures that must have filled the Thai monarch with glee.
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Budsi’s Authentic Thai
Budsaba Mason started Budsi's Authentic Thai as a pop-up concept — Photo courtesy of Budsi's Authentic Thai Cuisine
Budsaba "Budsi" Mason hails from the Isan region in Northeast Thailand and has been cooking since she was a child. Her culinary journey led to owning a small cafe on the train line to Lopburi, one of Thailand's oldest cities. She met her now husband, Jared Mason, at the cafe while he was in Thailand teaching English.
They moved back to Jared’s home city of New Orleans so he could pursue a degree, and it wasn’t long before Budsi found her way back to her culinary roots. She ran Budsi’s Authentic Thai as a pop-up at Pal’s Lounge in Nola’s Mid-City neighborhood for four years and then opened a restaurant of the same name in December 2021 in the Marigny.
Budsi’s menu spotlights dishes from the Isan region, cuisine known for its pungent sauces, especially the use of fermented fish sauce, along with spicy chilies. A typical Isan dish is bamboo salad, a cousin to the fiery somtam papaya salad, but made with bamboo and rich with fermented fish sauce flavor. Waterfall pork is a homey dish, consisting of sliced grilled pork sautéed with red onions, cilantro, scallions, mint and lime juice and served over jasmine rice.
Budsi is single-minded when it comes to her food and isn’t one to make substitutions: “I grew up cooking this food, and I know what it’s supposed to taste like.”
Pomelo
Chef Aom Srisuk of Pomelo honed her cheffing skills in Bangkok — Photo courtesy of Frankie Weinberg
Pomelo’s story was sparked by a love story. Chef Aom Srisuk first met her now husband, Frankie Weinberg, in 2000, in the ancient capital city of Ayutthaya, where Weinberg was teaching on temporary assignment and Srisuk was working at her family’s restaurant. When Weinburg left Ayutthaya, their romance fizzled in the face of a 9,000-mile commute.
In 2017, Weinberg, now a professor at Loyola University, went to Thailand on sabbatical and contacted Srisuk, who had spent 17 years cooking in her family’s Bangkok restaurants. Now the time was right. After six months, the couple came to New Orleans together, marrying in December 2018. Srisuk went to work in New Orleans’ kitchens with the plan to open her own place.
Named for the grapefruit-like citrus that's native to Southeast Asia, Pomelo opened Uptown on Magazine Street in November 2021. The welcoming café serves traditional Thai family recipes, including noodle dishes, curries and popular Thai street food. Chicken thighs simmer in a Massaman curry, studded with potatoes, onion and peanuts and fragrant with cinnamon, cardamom and a bit of star anise.
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Thai’d Up Nola
Chef Saowanit "Kate" Welch opened Thai'd Up Nola in July 2022 — Photo courtesy of Ryan Walsh
Thai’d Up Nola is the catchy name of a restaurant that Saowanit “Kate” Welch and Nola native Ryan Walsh opened in July 2022, only steps from the New Orleans Fair Grounds.
The chef’s all-day menu, based on recipes from Thai family and friends, hits so many high notes, from homemade roti with curry dipping sauce to fresh spring rolls, brimming with herbs and vegetables, to a shredded green papaya salad, oozing fish sauce and lime.
On the grill at Thai'd Up, opt for the marinated chicken or pork, served with a bold jaew dipping sauce, flavored with shallots, fish sauce, fresh lime juice, dried chilies and herbs. For dessert, sticky rice, soaked overnight in green pandan leaves, is paired with slices of ripe mango to end the meal on the perfect sweet note.