Talking about Buddha Thai Bistro

16. Can you tell us about the significance of the name of your restaurant?

Buddhism is the biggest religion in Thailand, and the figure of the Buddha's belly conveys a good meaning of being healthy, happy and complete.

17. How did you learn to cook?

I learned most of my cooking skills from my aunt and my mom in Thailand. My culinary base is home cooking although I also went to some cooking classes while I lived in Thailand and worked in a number of restaurants before I worked in my mom's restaurant. But I learn the most by running a real business - being in the kitchen every day and working to improve the recipes and trying new things.

Buddha Thai Bistro - stuffed salmon

18. What made you want to be a chef?

I like to eat! I like to eat good food. I want to make good food and have people enjoy good eating, healthy eating. I hear a lot of people say that healthy food doesn't taste good. I don't agree with that. Healthy food can taste really good - you just have to cook it right. I want people to experience eating healthy and tasty at the same time in the same dish.

19. What have been some of the challenges running the restaurant?

My biggest challenge, when we first opened, was finding the right ingredients. We wanted to make authentic Thai food but in a city that isn't as big as somewhere like L.A. where there's a large Thai community and lots of ingredients to cook with. That meant we had to make substitutions where we could and where that wasn't possible we needed to bring the ingredients from L.A. The fresh ingredients are so important that I go pick them every week myself from local farmer's markets.



20. Where do you like to eat out in Jacksonville?

Blue Bamboo. Dennis Chan is a great chef. He makes Pad Thai - not in the authentic way - if you brought it to Thailand people would say "what's that?" It may not be authentic, but it's really, really good. He's a good chef.

21. Can you tell us about your local cooking show?

It's a small cooking segment on CW every Thursday morning at 7am. It's part of a show called The Willow. Cooking in the kitchen is one thing but presenting on TV is totally different. But I enjoy it. They have the same concept as us - they want healthy food that tastes good and they asked us to help present that. The show is about yoga and better, healthy living. That's what they want to present and that's why they asked us to work with them.

22. What's next for you?

In the short future I'm just going to keep cooking good food and making sure my customers are happy. Like every restauranteur we also look someday to have a second or even third location.



Buddha Thai Bistro
301 10th Ave N
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
(904) 372-9149
http://www.buddhathaibistro.com/menu