Little Bangkok

Drew Kessler and Penny Tham are the creative restaurateurs behind the perfectly authentic Thai food found at Little Bangkok in the heart of the Strip District.

The pair met at a local chain restaurant here in town where he was the sous chef. She, of Thai descent, had front-end responsibilities but had always wanted to open a restaurant. She introduced him to Thai food; he was immediately taken with the exciting melding of flavors that defined the cuisine: sour, sweet, salty, spicy, pungent. “I had always enjoyed cooking,” says Drew, “so I thought that I might as well try something new.”

Choosing the delightfully gritty Strip for a location was easy. “We liked the availability of the vendors and fresh ingredients,” states Kessler.

Between that decision in late 2010 and the opening of the restaurant in December of 2011 was a whirlwind of learning trips to Thailand for Drew plus an intense period of fitting the space out. Initially it was just an empty, high-ceilinged, long rectangular room. Working without a restaurant designer, they transformed the space into an inviting venue painted in earth-tone colors complemented with shades of green. The relaxing feeling is that of a peaceful glade. Eat on the balcony to feel as if you’ve been transported to tall treetops.

Kessler has made about five trips to Thailand, sometimes for two months each, to study with members of Penny’s family who live in different locales around the country. As in many other countries, there are a plethora of regional variations—a little hotter here, less curry there. Penny’s brother taught Drew about Bangkok-style food, which he found “sweeter, more geared to Euro-American tastes.” Penny’s family in the far north of Thailand taught him about mountain-style flavor profiles, which Kessler considered “way more flavorful” than in Bangkok.

Some dishes are impossible to replicate because the basic ingredients are found only in the wild. For example, take the long beans that grow in the mountains on trees—the entire pod is harvested and put into a stew, then cooked a very long time.

Kessler returned home with family recipes. A few are from Penny’s mom; the restaurant’s Tom Yum Soup is from her uncle. Drew worked on all of them to make sure that they were properly replicated. The hardest to figure out was the Pad Thai sauce, because the primary ingredients of the dish are palm sugar and fish sauce in a perfect combination of sweet and sour; getting to perfect took multiple tries. But as Kessler emphasizes: “All of our sauces are made in house. We start with a prepared base, add spices, particularly turmeric, curry powder, cardamom, fenugreek, green or red curry, and lime leaf.”

One of the issues I’ve always had with Pad Thai at home is that it becomes watery because the heat breaks down the bean sprouts. Kessler does not subscribe to just putting the sprouts on top of the finished dish, which would solve the problem, so he mixes them into the rest of the food for ten seconds and immediately serves the dish. And of course, the noodles should drain thoroughly.
The result is an absolutely smashing dish, full of carefully blended flavors that don’t compete with each other. The noodles themselves are what lets the dish sparkle—soft but with a touch of bite, so silky that an entirely new dimension is added to the food. They are extraordinary, unusual, and unfortunately for us at home, only made in the Little Bangkok kitchen.

Kessler’s recipes were not written down until that was necessitated this year when he had shoulder surgery and Penny had to take over the cooking. Both of them are committed to a personal, recognizable brand. That explains not only Little Bangkok’s success but also the restaurant’s high number of return customers. “We cater to repeat diners,” notes Drew, while still welcoming those who become new and valued customers. It is not surprising that Kessler and Tham live by a credo that emphasizes “consistency in taste and seeing that people are happy.”

To which I would add serving utterly delicious food.
Little Bangkok (1906 Penn Ave in the Strip; 412-586-4107) is open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. It is closed daily from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. for food prep.

Cynthia F. Weisfield is an art historian who teaches at several local venues. She is also an avid cook, writing about food and food-related topics. Cynthia has a degree from the University of Chicago.

Photography by Adrienne Bello