Nan Thai comes to Buckhead!
When Nan Niyomkul moved to the U.S. from Bangkok, at 19, she never planned on creating a restaurant empire. She’d learned to cook from her mother, a street food vendor in Thailand, and honed her skills at fine dining restaurants in New York before marrying her late husband, Charlie. They opened Tamarind in Manhattan in the early 1990s. After moving to Atlanta and launching Tamarind in 2003, the Niyomkuls introduced the city to Nan Thai Fine Dining, the Midtown white-tablecloth establishment where their daughter, DeeDee, was immersed in the business. She trained on operations with her dad and in the kitchen with her mom.
“I have a loyalty to the restaurant,” DeeDee says. “It’s not only important to my family, but it’s a big part of who I became.”
Recently, DeeDee, who owns Tuk Tuk Food Loft in Brookwood, converted her Buckhead-based, modern Thai restaurant Chai Yo to Nan Thai, a “casual fine dining” version of her parents’ restaurant.
She’ll carry on her parents’ legacy, working with her mom to offer some signature dishes while incorporating a modern twist. (Nan Thai Fine Dining will continue to serve Midtown for the foreseeable future.) We spoke to the mother-daughter team to learn more.
What are you doing to memorialize Charlie at the new location?
DN: It’s carrying on the name Nan. My dad’s dream was to show the world this other level of Thai food. It’s like royal fine dining. When we first got to Atlanta, Thai cuisine wasn’t so popular, but my parents changed that. We’re educating the guests about our food, our culture, why we eat this way and where it comes from—that’s what my dad was great at.
What’s your style of working together?
DN: Working with family is hard, but it’s all I know. There’s a lot of passion but also blood, sweat and tears. My mom has her say in things, and I have mine. We try each other’s food and get each other’s opinions. I trust her judgment, and she respects and trusts mine, too.
We’re working on the menu together. There are staple dishes I’m bringing from the original Nan, like calamari, red snapper with three chili sauce, beef short rib, sea bass with three-flavor tamarind sauce and Siam chicken with pineapple. She’s letting me do some more new age dishes like octopus lemongrass salad and beef cheeks in panang curry sous vide cooked for 13 hours.
How does the food differ across generations?
NN: The food must have passion in it. I use traditional Thai. My daughter mixes it up with modern Thai. DN: I keep our family’s taste and flavors. We have our own style and palate. We love to use herbs like galangal and lemongrass. My food is more progressive in the styling and plating.
Nan, how often do you travel to Thailand?
NN: Usually two times a year for two months each time. I like to see the progression of Thai food and come back and share ideas with DeeDee. You can’t help but go out to eat every day there.
NAN THAI
404.464.7980
nanthaibuckhead.com
@nanthaibuckhead
