Hard to believe it now, but Joanne and I visited Bangkok 25 years ago.
It was a glorious trip – with wonderful people, amazing sights, and zesty, zippy, frisky, memorable food.
But, wow: the heat.
It was beastly…sweltering…sticky, steamy, muggy hot. I remember asking Joanne, “Do you have to sweat so much?” She said, “I don’t sweat, I perspire” !
We’d leave the comfort of our air-conditioned hotel in the morning and by the time we had walked 10 minutes, our clothes were wringing wet. No wonder our room rate included laundry service.
But it turns out that the scorching temperatures were serendipitous. Because of the daytime heat and humidity, the residents of the city by and large didn’t surface for air until after the sunset when the temperature dropped. And surface they did – in droves and throngs – onto the nighttime streets.
You see, over hundreds of years the tradition developed that food vendors would set up humble little stalls on both sides of the street, offering bright, adventuresome, fiery, flavorful Thai comfort food ranging from pig jowls to duck eggs and everything in between. Grilled cuttlefish…snake (tasted like chicken)…stinky-fresh durian.
These agglomerations became known as NIGHT MARKETS. They were both a dining venue and a social gathering place. And now they thrive not only in Bangkok, but in cities throughout Thailand such as Chang Mai and resort destinations like Phuket.
Each night Joanne and I would roam Sukhumvit Road, wandering from stall to stall, sampling everything from scalding hot unknown chicken parts to octopus and innards. The small offerings were served up on paper plates, paper cones and sometimes in a plastic baggy and were not expensive at all…maybe 2 or 3 bucks each, if that.
It was about then that I said to Joanne, “We could create a restaurant around this idea of exotic small plates in Minneapolis.”
She replied, ”Are you nuts? Are you really friggin’ nuts this time? There’s way too much Lutheran DNA in Minneapolis for folks to ever try this kind of food!”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said, “but the small plates are the key.”
After all, folks could try a small sampling of something exotic like octopus (unheard of in Minnesota at the time) and if they didn’t like it, well, they could just pitch it in the trash. After all, it wasn’t as if they had bet the farm on a $25 plate of cephalopod. And if they did like it, think of the bragging rights they would have in front of their colleagues at the water cooler the next morning. “Oh yeah, I’m cool. I had octopus last night.”
Well, on the way home from Bangkok, I wrote a draft menu on the plane.
A few short months later, CHINO LATINO – offering “Street Food From the Hot Zones” – was birthed in Uptown.
What fun it was! Char-grilled lemongrass lamb lollipops…fire-roasted hot chili shrimp…BBQ Pork belly bao buns…Lamma Island salty squid…and multi-colored, multi-flavored steamed dumplings.
Then, after 20 years, CHINO LATINO’s run came to an end. I’m sad that it closed (but glad that it happened).
But a few weeks ago now – a quarter-century later – we were in New York on a Parasole dining trip and tried a new place with a glowing red neon sign that read, BANGKOK SUPPER CLUB.
Located on Hudson Street in the West Village, it’s the creation of chef/owner Matt Wittawat, a restaurateur whose menu of refined Thai street food and family recipes reveals an an eye for artistry and a true grasp of culinary yin-yang: color and contrast…soft and crunchy…high and low…hot and mild…sweet and sour…all curated for a young urban New York audience.
You can imagine how thrilled I was. It was like seeing an old friend.
So…let’s go…
The place radiates low-grade chic. Even at 6PM, it was crowded, alive and buzzy. There were 9 of us, but we had reservations and were seated in two cozy horseshoe shaped booths (#12 and #13) in the dead center of the action.
Cocktails were beautiful, bold and generous.
We began our culinary adventure with a couple dozen two-bite tartlets packed with blue swimmer crab, lemongrass and coconut relish…all capped with a small dollop of caviar.
What followed?
Hokkaido Scallops Ceviche buried beneath a watermelon granita with a flicker of red chiles.
Char-grilled Tiger Prawn Satay with cilantro and red chiles over curry-cashew butter…$23
Fried Duck Egg with cherry tomatoes, celery root, grated egg yolk and trout roe.
Rounding out our starts was a Grilled Mushroom Salad, featuring little gem lettuce, oyster mushrooms, chrysanthemum shoots, Thai basil, toasted coconut chips and cilantro-coconut dressing.
Next came Beef Cheek Massaman Curry, slow cooked for 12 hours with roasted shallots and topped with crushed cashews…$37.
Pan-Seared Wild-Caught Chilean Sea Bass Chakram Curry was redolent of Thai basil leaf, sea beans and red chili flakes.
Whole Branzino, dry aged with crispy skin, came with nam jin sauce on the side…$45
Ba Jang Lobster was brown-butter poached and served over powerfully flavored aromatic black pepper sticky rice with oyster mushrooms, nasturtium leaves and toasted garlic chips.
Deep-Fried Pork Jowl with savory garlic baked rice and pork cracklings won applause all around…$35
“Crying Tiger” was a 32oz., bone-in, beautifully marbled Rib Eye steak with fresh Thai herbed salad, char-roasted tomato mash and garlic chips.
Gai Yang Chicken was grilled Thai-style with lemongrass, fish sauce, garlic and honey…$38
Then came dessert:
Coconut-sweet potato ice cream over pound cake with wavy toasted coconut ribbons…sweet, but spicy too.
Pandan Coconut cake arrived nestled inside a young coconut with crushed pandan leaf ice cream custard. (Hint: Be sure to scrape the tender coconut meat from inside the shell).
So, there you have it. It would be a shame if you traveled to New York and didn’t dine at Bangkok Supper Club. It has a coveted Michelin Star. And if you do decide to go, be certain to make a reservation well in advance.
And of course, if you happen to vacation in Thailand, do not deny yourself the many culinary pleasures of the NIGHT MARKETS, whether you’re in Bangkok, Chang Mai or Phuket.
Just be sure that you pronounce PHUKET correctly.
W.T.F.
PHIL