Beyond eatery8/30/2023 It’s also, in some ways, the story of Thai food in the US. ![]() Over the last few years, he’s overhauled the menu and transformed Anajak into a culinary hotspot.Īnajak’s evolution from a hole-in-the-wall joint to foodie favorite has been a decades-long process. Still, Thai food has struggled to shed a reputation of being cheap takeout fare - something that Pichetrungsi has been trying to change since 2019, when he left his job as an art director at Disney to take over Anajak full time. Thai is now one of the nation’s most popular cuisines, with more than 10,000 restaurants in the US despite Thai people making up about 0.1% of the nation’s overall population. “Our diasporic cuisine became part of the rotation of American takeout,” Pichetrungsi said. The restaurant’s original, multi-page menu in the ‘80s listed around 60 dishes - among them pad thai, pad see-ew and panang curry - that introduced American diners to the flavors of Thailand while remaining approachable.įorty years later, Anajak - and Thai food in the US - has come a long way. The Sherman Oaks eatery, started by Pichetrungsi’s father Rick Pichetrungsi, was one of the first Thai restaurants in L.A., according to Pichetrungsi. They just thought it was spicy Chinese food, said Justin Pichetrungsi, the restaurant’s current head chef and owner. ![]() When Anajak Thai opened in 1981, most people who walked into the Los Angeles restaurant weren’t familiar with Thai cuisine.
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