APRIL 2020 – 41
The Cocktails
While head bartender Al Thompson stocked the bar with
the Lao essentials—crisp rice-based Beerlao and Lao-style
whisky made with fermented sticky rice—he dipped into his
own nostalgia for the drinking vessels, like this Stormtrooper
cookie jar repurposed for a gin-powered punch.The Bar
Walk into any home in Laos and you’ll find plenty of
furniture and wood carvings made of mahogany, which
is native to the country. The hardwood has exposed
holes, which Pradachith commissioned local woodworker
Colonial Hardwoods to fill in with blue epoxy for the
restaurant’s custom bar counter. It reminds him of rainy
days in Laos and is the perfect backdrop for salat hua pii.The Basket Lights
During Pradachith’s last visit
to Laos, he’d walk along the
Mekong River at sunset and
watch fishermen pull up their
bamboo fish traps from the
water. He loved how the light
reflected through the pear-
shaped traps and sought to
re-create that magical moment
by slipping bulbs into black
wicker baskets.The Mural
For his playful fantastical
style, Bounkhong combines
Buddhist deities and mythical
creatures with cartoons he
grew up watching. Here he
sketched by hand and relied
on oil paints to create this
larger-than-life piece showing
Hanuman preparing and then
digging into a feast.The Plates
Pradachith has a thing for antiquing.
He travels up and down the East
Coast looking for one-of-a-kind
plateware that—if not Lao in origin—
is Lao in aesthetic. For example, the
gold-leaf-rimmed plates remind him
of the metallic bowls monks carry for
almsgiving. And thanks to a recent
Marie Kondo–level purge he did at
home, you can now see his eclectic
FO finds at Hanumanh.