Food & Wine USA - (07)July 2020

JULY 2020 61

Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon,
the owner of Kalaya. below:
kaeng som pla, a sour fish
curry; deep-fried chicken
wings

Food & Wine: What

did you do when the

crisis first hit?

Chutatip Suntara-

non: I changed my

business immediately

to a takeout model,

but we also started

to feed people in the

industry who had lost

their jobs; we called

it “family meals.” But

we quickly realized

that more people were

hungry, so we started

feeding everyone who

needed food.

FW: Why did you

decide to stay open?

CS: I want to keep my

staff employed and

feed my community.

It’s important that

everyone around me

is able to access good

food.

FW: What kind of food

are you cooking for

family meals?

CS: At first, we were

cooking the food

from the walk-ins of

restaurants that had

fully shut down, and

we also had a lot of

donations from our

community. We make

their pivot

KALAYA

philadelphia

HOMESTYLE THAI

COOKING WITH LARGER-

THAN-LIFE FLAVORS

why we love them

Half the reason to visit Kalaya is to meet

Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon. The preemi-

nent hostess, Suntaranon has as much per-

sonality as her homestyle Thai cooking has

flavor—which is to say, boundless. There

are tapioca dumplings stuffed with mush-

rooms and peanuts, a silky chicken curry

shot through with lemongrass and shrimp

paste. Her food is bold and beautiful, and

Philadelphia is better for it.

things like chicken and

rice, pork belly, mac

and cheese, and lots

of pasta. (One of my

sous chefs has experi-

ence cooking Italian.)

FW: How many people

do you feed?

CS: At first, we were

feeding around 75

people per day. Now,

we are feeding on

average 30 people per

day. We give out meals

six days a week, and

we are now also cook-

ing meals for frontline

workers at hospitals.

FW: What are some of

the challenges?

CS: Every day is a new

struggle. This week

my butcher decided

to close for two weeks

(and it will probably

be longer than that),

which means I have

to find a new butcher

and pay double the

price or order a bunch

of meat and prep it

all in advance so I can

freeze it. I am doing

everything I can to

keep my costs down

so I can continue to

keep my staff paid.