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Thai Diner Opens a Chicken Finger and Tropical Drink Hangout

There has not been a chicken finger that New Yorkers have clawed for since the first Raising Cane's landed two years ago in Manhattan, now with several other outposts. Mommy Pai's — located at 203 Mott Street, at Kenmare Street, in Nolita — is hatching at just the right moment and has all the makings for success. That's because the new Thai chicken finger takeout counter — opening on Friday, August 8 — comes from Ann Redding and Matt Danzer, behind Thai Diner, blending what their other restaurant does best: creative comfort food with a Thai twist. Only this time, it's a fast food operation, serving out of a takeout-only window down the street. Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet 'Honestly, Gray's Papaya really inspired me — that salty little something with the tropical fruit drink,' says Redding. As the name would suggest, her mother, Ampai, is also the mascot. 'The way she took food we ate in the States and made it her way,' like memories of her mother ordering fried chicken at Roy Rogers and tweaking it by making lettuce wraps from the fixins bar. Mommy Pai's intends to replicate that feeling: It serves chicken fingers (grilled or fried) in flavors like lemongrass, coconut, or Muay Thai, with garlic, soy, fish sauce, and coriander. Choose from eight sauces, like the Heavenly BBQ (capturing the flavors of the Thai beef jerky known as heavenly beef), or the noom green sauce. Make it a combo set, with the choice of Mommy Cakes, a Thai play on Johnny cakes, som tum slaw, and waffle fries. Plus, slurp a tropical drink in flavors like pineapple-basil, tamarind, and mango-coconut. On the sandwich side there's Filet O'Tofu, with nam prik noom, American cheese, mayo, scallion, cilantro and pickled cucumber; the Jungle Queen, with a smashed chicken thigh patty with fermented bamboo, green chile relish, American cheese; or the Mommy Royale, choice of chicken or tofu with American cheese, pickled greens, and 'special sauce.' Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet For dessert, find Thai tea and condensed milk twist soft serve, and mini taro tapioca doughnuts with pandan sangkaya custard. 'The sleeper hits are the sides, I could make a meal just out of that,' says Danzer, pointing to the garlic chive and tapioca dumplings. Meanwhile, the curry puff mozzarella sticks have been 'polarizing' amongst early tastetesters. 'I'm curious what the people have to say about it,' says Redding. Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet Building off Thai Diner's success, focusing on chicken fingers seems exactly in their wheelhouse. And yes, they're being purposeful in calling it a chicken finger, not tender, since they're using chicken thighs ('more juicy and flavorful,' says Danzer). Still, it's also a lot of pressure to rework a beloved American childhood favorite. 'We're on the version we're calling '32' of our dredges,' says Redding of recipe testing. 'You know, you're tasting it, and then you start to get insecure and suddenly we're ordering chicken from everywhere, tasting theirs, being like, I think we're okay… yeah, we're okay!' Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet It's a full circle moment: About a decade ago, the couple signed a lease at 203 Mott Street with the initial intent of opening a chicken-themed offshoot to their Michelin-starred uber-hit Thai restaurant, Uncle Boons, around the corner. In the end, they put that dream on hold and pivoted. In 2016, they debuted Mr. Donahue's, an American diner — 'still my favorite art project,' says Redding — at the address that received two stars from the New York Times. But running a restaurant with just 12 seats didn't math and it closed a year later. In 2017, the couple rebranded the space as Uncle Boons Sister, a fast-casual restaurant with dine-in seating, but it, like its senior sibling, Uncle Boons shut down during COVID. Fans mourned. For the past five years, 203 Mott Street has served as commissary headquarters for Thai Diner's desserts (they're known in particular for their sentient monster cakes), leaving fans wondering if Redding and Danzer would ever reopen the space to the public. All these years later, the LLC is still chicken-related: Ready, when they were. Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet Today's dining landscape makes more sense for a takeout-only operation. The exterior has been rebuilt to reference Thai wood homes and the feeling of food stalls. Even with the limited square footage, every detail is collaged with cheeky, personal details to their family story. Order at the counter and grab a seat outside or take it to-go in one of their custom boxes, designed by Ann's sister, May, who does all of the visual identities for their restaurants, down the can for their custom beer. An image of Mommy Pai greets diners on a lit-up menu screen with playful long fingers. May photographed Ampai in nostalgic, colorful outfits, images then transformed into oil-painted portraits by the artist Khun Ott, known for Thai movie posters circa the 1970s. Eventually, Mommy Pai's will offer delivery. 'Every time we do an opening, we try and be smarter. In the past, it's been too much too fast, so we want to take our time to get it right,' says Redding. Even after several restaurants, 'It never gets easier!' she says. Especially, when they have the Thai Diner fanbase, with the kind of sustained turnout that few restaurants maintain after their initial launch season. No doubt, customers will sniff out Mommy Pai's and follow the smell of coconut just down the street.