Bringing Thailand's street food feel to New Westminster has been no easy task, but owner and chef Angus An says the River Market's foodfocused edge has only complemented his business. Longtail Kitchen opened in May after being under renovation since January.
"It's been good," An said. "Obviously, everybody who has received us has been very warm, welcoming - and we're excited to be there, as well."
An already has an award-winning restaurant in Vancouver, the Maenam Thai, and he opened his second location in New Westminster because it's an up-and-coming city, as people are getting priced out of Vancouver.
"I think, too, we have a good following in Vancouver, and we've been convincing a lot of people from Vancouver to hop on a SkyTrain to visit New West," he said. "A lot of people I spoke to out there from Vancouver ... have nothing but nice things to say about New West. They didn't realize how easy it is to get out there. It's so beautiful."
What a lot of people may not realize is that An wasn't interested in Thai food when he first got into cooking.
"At the time, I had never had good Thai food," he said. "I'm from Taiwan, I grew up in Vancouver and Thai food was a total fluke for me."
An went to the University of British Columbia for fine arts, but the love of cooking sent him to New York where he trained to make French food.
"I worked in one of the top restaurants in New York and Montreal," he said. "After Montreal I went to London, England to work in a European restaurant."
A chance encounter with one of the best Thai chefs in the world led An to change his mind about the food, too.
"What happened after that is I went and fell in love with Thai food," he said.
"The chef offered me a job and I took it. I wanted to learn more about their food. I met my wife there."
Now An goes to Thailand once a year to visit his wife's family, and it's become a big part of his life.
"One of my favourite things we have are the chicken wings," he said about what he likes most on his menu. "It's quite unique, and so far it's one of our more popular dishes."
For more info, visit long tailkitchen.com.
