The Portland powerhouse team behind Thai-Chinese restaurant Yaowarat will open its doors for dinner today at 7937 SE Stark Street. The project is restaurateur Akkapong Earl Ninsom’s ode to Bangkok’s Chinatown. He told Eater Portland that when he returns to his hometown of Bangkok, he always finds himself in Chinatown in search of late-night bowls of spicy noodle soup and desserts. Nimson restaurants (Langbaan, Hat Yai, Eem, PaaDee and Phuket Cafe) take inspiration from a specific region or cuisine of Thailand, and this one is no different with Thai-Chinese dishes such as grilled squid, pickled cabbage salad and mapo tofu.
To work on Yaowarat, Nimson brought in longtime cocktail collaborator Eric Nelson, former Sweedeedee chef Sam Smith and expat co-owner Kyle Linden Webster. The group went to Yaowarat Road, the main street of Bangkok’s Chinatown, to immerse themselves in the culture and returned with ideas for a restaurant.
“We’re not trying to emulate Chinatown directly,” says Nelson, “we’re just trying to show people some of the things we saw and some of the feelings we had when we were there.” The group also visited vintage shops in Bangkok and brought back lanterns, artwork, old movie posters and other decor for Yaowarat in Portland.
Nelson says the group wants to do what it can to honor the food and merchants of Bangkok’s Chinatown. “We want to honor that and do it right,” he says, “and hopefully people will come and be with us.”
Yaowarat is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 17:00 to 22:00.