Thaihey NOLA opened last October in the French Quarter, serving a unique take on traditional Thai dishes. Owners Nathan Greene and Chef Orawin Yimchalam ran their first location of Thaihey in Baton Rouge for a year before relocating to New Orleans.

Yimchalam grew up in Lopburi, Thailand, working in her mother’s restaurant. Before moving to California, she worked at hotels and restaurants in Bangkok and as a bartender on Princess Cruise Line. Greene did government work, and the couple met in San Francisco, married in 2017, and moved to Louisiana after the birth of their daughter.

Thaihey started at White Star Market in Baton Rouge in January 2020, before the pandemic forced the hall to close in March of that year. In May 2020, Yimchalam and Greene opened Thaihey Thaifood on Lee Drive in Baton Rouge. When a spot opened up on Decatur Street in New Orleans, the couple jumped at the chance to relocate.

Thaihey – Massaman Ribeye Curry

The food at Thaihey NOLA is made from Yimchalam’s family recipes.

For first-timer visitors, she recommends Khao Soi chicken, a northern-style yellow curry noodle soup served with fried egg noodles, pickled mustard greens, cilantro, and chicken.

“It’s very popular,” Yimchalam said. “Khao Soi is the number one Thai dish in the world right now.”

Yimchalam makes her yellow curry on the lighter side, retaining all the flavors of turmeric, cumin, and other spices. She added fried chicken to the dish because she said that Louisianians love their fried chicken. The dish is also available in a vegan option.

“It’s not too heavy, but it’s filling,” she added.

For the beef lover, Yimchalam recommends the Massaman ribeye curry of ribeye meat stewed in red curry sauce with Indian spices, potatoes, and crushed peanuts.

Thaihey NOLA has a few vegan options on the menu, including spicy eggplant, a deep-fried eggplant with spicy garlic, bean paste sauce, tofu, and Thai basil served with jasmine rice.

Yimchalam said that when creating this dish, she wanted to make it similar to the traditional non-vegan version, with the same amount of flavor.

“I used to eat spicy eggplant with pork when I was six years old with my aunt,” she said. “I had the idea to make it with tofu so that it would be a vegan version. I use a deep-fried Japanese whole eggplant that looks like a flower blooming when it’s in the dish. When you add the tofu, soy sauce, duck sauce, garlic, chili, and basil, it brings out all those flavors.”

Other vegan menu items include Thai herb salad, with toasted quinoa, green apple, lemongrass, fresh ginger, seared shimeji mushroom served with Miang Kham dressing, and Tom Zaab tofu, a hot and spicy sour soup with tofu blossom, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, basil and white shimeji mushroom.

Thaihey NOLA’s bar program offers an array of tempting cocktails such as the Siam Mule, a mix of lemongrass-infused vodka, fresh lime juice, kaffir lime syrup, and Fever-Tree ginger beer; the Mai Tai, a combination of butterfly pea flower infused rum, orange liqueur, orgeat syrup, and fresh lime juice; and Southern Bliss, featuring gin-infused chrysanthemum tea, honey and lemon juice.

Thaihey – Mai Tai

Yimchalam and Greene have enjoyed owning a restaurant in the Vieux Carré and said that the neighborhood makes the area feel like a village.

“We’ve gotten to know all of the other business owners, and everyone is friendly and takes care of each other,” Greene said. “In our spot, we’re close to the business district, so we get a lunch crowd from there and we get foot traffic from tourists. The way we cook our food, you can smell it out on the street and that gets people to come in the door.”

Yimchalam added, “I like the buildings and the history of the French Quarter. I love New Orleans and that our restaurant is in a historic building. There are a lot of things about this city that remind me of where I grew up.”

Thaihey NOLA, 308 Decatur Street, 504-354-8646. Hours: Wednesday through Monday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. Closed on Tuesday.