"Quick and easy" is what most people want when they dine out these days, says chef Angus An, owner of award-winning Maenam Thai restaurant in Vancouver.
But they also want flavour, and An's Longtail Kitchen in New Westminster's River Market delivers on all levels.
An brings Thai street food from the water taxis of Thailand to the shores of the Fraser River. Market visitors will be able to sit on the restaurant's patio, and enjoy crispy chicken wings, rich curries, smoky grilled hen, tangy pad Thai, steaming mussels and succulent fried oysters.
"New West is an up-and-coming area," An says, during an interview at the riverside restaurant, which is located in the space that formerly housed Fathom, a fish-and-chips shop. "I think there is enough people in New West, there's enough things happening in New West that it could work."
An says River Market owner Mark Shieh urged him to open a restaurant in the market a couple of years ago, but it wasn't the right time for An. When the offer came up again, An says he was ready, and he saw the potential in New Westminster.
"I read that people who live in Vancouver, 64 per cent of their income goes to their mortgage, and their average income is only $64,000, so people are really starting to be priced out of Vancouver," An says.
"If you just sit here on a sunny day, you become convinced that it will work," he says looking out toward the river on a grey afternoon. "It's beautiful here, and it's nice to have something to reach out to the people who are not only in New West, because I believe New West is kind of in the middle of the Tri-Cities, Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby."
An's plan is to open the restaurant for lunch during market hours, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and then operate it as a pop-up restaurant in the evening.
The space will be transformed into a private-event restaurant, where either An, or other chefs, could host a dinner.
"They could do anything they want - not just Thai - but it has to be approved by me. This restaurant will transform into whatever they want to sell," An says. "It's their way to reach out to New West. It's kind of like an art gallery for a chef."
The pop-ups can go for a single night or longer.
"A lot of chefs are doing pop-ups, basically to make extra income," explains An, who is also a consulting chef at Kittichai in New York.
An's Longtail concept for River Market aligns with Vancouver's changing culinary culture.
"What's happened in the Vancouver restaurant scene in the last four or five years, most of the really high-end restaurants aren't doing well," he says, citing Lumière's closure and his own challenges in Kitsilano.
"I, for one, went through that myself with Gastropod; we changed it into Maenam, so we definitely know the trend is people want to eat good, but they don't necessarily want to sit through a four-hour dinner," An says.
Lunch at Longtail Kitchen proves that world-class "quick and easy" - and flavourful - food can be found in New Westminster.
nhope@royalcityrecord. com
