O Thai Cuisine Restaurant in Vancouver

O Thai Cuisine Restaurant in Vancouver
1626 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6J 1X6 604.731.4888 www.othai.ca
"Experience the sensual pleasures of 1,000 years of flavour evolution in an upbeat, modern setting."

O THAI – A LUCKY BALANCE

(Vancouver, BC) -- ‘O’ – perfect, round, harmonious and balanced. The letter symbolizes many of the concepts found in Buddhist tradition and by extension, in the food of that most Buddhist of countries – Thailand. It is this sense of harmony and balance that inspired Luck Sarabhayavanija to choose it as the name and symbol for his new restaurant -- O Thai.

O Thai brings to Vancouver’s food scene contemporary Thai cuisine with roots deep in tradition while at the same time presenting the sensual pleasures of 1,000 years of flavour evolution in an upbeat, modern setting. “When I moved to Vancouver, I spent the first six months eating in every Thai restaurant in the Lower Mainland. What I found was that many of them are stalled in a Thai cuisine of the past – they aren’t taking advantage of the incredible ingredients available here. Many of the interiors also have an ‘out-dated’ ambience. In New York, Thai food is synonymous with modern and contemporary. Many of the Thai restaurants in Manhattan are upbeat and very design-aware – places where young and old, families and urban singles meet and mingle over flavourful, healthy food. That’s what I want to bring to Vancouver.”

Mr. Sarabhayavanija is so committed to his concept of contemporary Thai that he lured a top chef away from New York to Vancouver. Prior to joining O Thai, Chef Sanya Phromajunya cooked in, or consulted to, some of the premier Thai restaurants in Bangkok, New York and New Jersey. Not limiting his expertise to Thai cuisine alone, Chef is a graduate of the CIA and has expanded his culinary horizons by heading kitchens in some of Manhattan’s French and Italian restaurants (most recently for Hilton Hotels). It is his sense of Thai cuisine’s complex yet clear flavours mingled with Western presentation style that has earned Chef Phromajunya a reputation for leading the pack in the new wave of Thai chefs.

“This is such a wonderful city, “ says Mr. Sarabhayavanija. “It’s a crossroads of so many cultures – especially East meets West. The food scene is brimming with food culture influences from all over the globe. This is not unlike Thailand’s historical past. In Thailand the food traditions have grown from a thousand years of inter-influences – native Thai mixing with Malay, Cambodian, Laotian, Chinese, Indian, Muslim, European – many of the same influences present here in Vancouver today. This is a very exciting place in which to grow my interpretation of Thai food for modern times.”

O Thai opens its doors to the public on Sept 29, 2006. Located at 1626 West Broadway (on the south side, just west of Fir) in South Granville, O Thai is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday though Sunday. Reservations are not a must, but are recommended for dinner by calling 604.731.4888.

Manhattan’s loss is Vancouver’s good Luck.

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Media contact:
Nancy Wong
Culinary Communications
E: nwongpr@telus.net
T: 604.732.0737

1626 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6J 1X6 604.731.4888 www.othai.ca