Latest news with #Bangkok-style
Eater
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
One of LA's Best Thai Restaurants Is Expanding With Two New Locations
is an editor of the Southern California/Southwest region, who covers the evolving landscape of LA's food scene. It's gearing up to be an exciting summer for Holy Basil. Wedchayan 'Deau' Arpapornnopparat's Bangkok-style Thai restaurant is relocating from its original location in Downtown LA to the former Guerrilla Tacos space in the Arts District. The Downtown location on the first floor of Santee Court Apartment will remain open until the move, which is slated for this fall. The Arts District location will feature an expanded menu, along with a beverage program from partner Joy Yuon. But before Holy Basil makes the move to the Arts District, Arpapornnopparat will open a new location of the restaurant in Santa Monica at the end of July. While Holy Basil expands, Arpapornnopparat and Yuon are already cooking up their next idea. The duo is set to open Yhing Yhang BBQ inside the forthcoming Maydan Market in West Adams. The restaurant, which translates to 'more grill' in Thai, will serve gai yhang (grilled chicken thighs) and neuh yhang (grilled beef short ribs), alongside roasted duck curry, among other dishes. Yhing Yhang will be joined by a new Oaxacan stand from Poncho's Tlayudas chef Alfonso 'Poncho' Martinez, Rose Previte's Michelin-starred restaurant Maydan, and more. Mr. Beef is coming to LA On the heels of the release of the latest season of The Bear, Mr. Beef is returning to Los Angeles for a pop-up at Uncle Paulie's Deli on July 19 and 20. The restaurant and its beef sandwiches served as the inspiration for The Bear's fictional restaurant, the Original Beef of Chicagoland. Alongside the sandwiches, Courtney Storer (the culinary producer and a co-executive producer on The Bear) will serve Italian ice from her pop-up, Coco's to Go. A pickle cart sponsored by HexClad and exclusive merchandise will also be on-site. Claud comes to Los Angeles Acclaimed New York restaurant Claud is headed to Los Angeles for a one-night-only collaboration with Dunsmoor on August 7. The set-price menu will be served family-style, with courses that encompass raw, larder, main, and dessert. Tickets are priced at $135 per person, and reservations can be made on OpenTable. Beer and wine at Skaf's on York Highland Park's Lebanese restaurant, Skaf's on York, just added beer and wine to its menu. Head over to the casual eatery for a glass of natural wine or Lebanese beer paired with shawarma plates and hummus. Holbox heads west Chef Gilberto Cetina of Michelin-Starred Holbox is headed to Venice on July 22 for a one-night-only collaborative dinner with Chef José Olmedo Carles Rojas of Si! Mon. The pair will present a six-course tasting menu, priced at $180 per person, and a cantina-style a la carte menu. Reservations are currently sold out on Resy, but limited walk-ins are available. Eater LA All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Mint
16-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Why Adam Cliff Won't Open Another Samsen Restaurant in Hong Kong
(Bloomberg) -- The Samsen restaurant group is one of Hong Kong's standout success stories of the past decade, with daily queues outside each of the three outlets a testament to the enduring popularity of the Bangkok-style food and casual hip vibe. Yet Adam Cliff, the chef-owner of the group, has no plans to open a fourth iteration — in Hong Kong, at least. An expansion to Australia is possible, however, as is a different concept locally. The 39-year-old, who hails from Sydney, originally came to Hong Kong in 2013 to co-found Chachawan, the Thai eatery on Hollywood Road that's part of the JIA Group, before opening Samsen three years later in Wanchai's Stone Nullah who is fluent in spoken and written Thai, has since opened two more Samsen outlets in Sheung Wan and, most recently, in Central's On Lan Street. I spoke to him in his newest restaurant about what drives him, what and where he might open next, and what he thinks of the competition. The interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. Why do you think you have been so successful with Samsen? I just want to give people what they want. I'm not here to try educate the market, I'm not trying to change their perceptions of Thai food. I just try to identify what I think the Hong Kong market will appreciate. The beef boat noodle soup in particular has all the elements that I think local Hong Kongers appreciate: it's got soup, there's noodles, it's sour, it's spicy, it's a bit salty, it's beef, it's all there. The second is utility. I think Samsen is reasonably priced and it's important for us that people aren't leaving here thinking wow that cost me quite a bit and I'm going to reconsider before I go again. I want it to be so accessible so you can just go without thinking about it. How important is consistency? Consistency is a given, it's non-negotiable. Everything has to be the same or as close as it can possibly be. I have a brigade of about 50 chefs. I would say the vast majority of those chefs have worked with the company for five or six years or more, and they''re talented in their own rights. Saying all of that, I will still be in Samsen trying the food five, six days a week. It just always intrigued me. The first restaurant that I worked at was an Aussie restaurant. I just happened to be working with a lot of Thai people and their staff food was more exciting to me than the food I was cooking for customers. And they ended up just opening their own Thai restaurant, invited me to join them. So I left the restaurant and joined them. And that I guess started quite a passion for me. To keep improving. To continue growing the company one step at a time, very slow. For one of the most successful restaurants, which I'd say Samsen is, we are also quite slow in expanding and that's deliberate. I'm a big believer in just one step. Just like today, I was trying to develop one of our current dishes on the menu, just trying to improve it ever so slightly. And that's what I enjoying doing. And then when I feel that the team is strong enough and we're ready, then we'll take more of a jump. Whether that be another restaurant here in Hong Kong or maybe abroad. Australia is always kind of at the back of my mind. The older I get, the more I miss home. I love Hong Kong and Hong Kong is definitely my home as well. But I do enjoy spending more time in Australia with mum and dad especially. Final question on competition. You're seeing at least a couple of groups modeled on the concept you built. I would say modeled on Samsen is a very nice way to put it. Yeah. You are seeing there is quite a lot here. How do you feel about that? I pay it the necessary attention that it deserves. It gets a little bit tiresome because Thai food is so broad. The next restaurant I open in Hong Kong, if it's Thai, it's not going to be a Samsen, it will not be this group, because it seems that at a lot of the Thai restaurants that open in Hong Kong, the menu is very similar. But Thai food itself is so broad, there are so many amazing dishes that people should be doing, but they're not. This interview was originally published in Hong Kong Edition, a weekly newsletter. Click here to read our earlier interview with the makers of the Four Trails documentary movie, and here to read an interview with one of the creators of an unofficial 100-kilometer hiking route. To subscribe to the newsletter for free, click here. More stories like this are available on
