Phen Ruyan sits in her Nohra Thai Kitchen on a warm Wednesday morning, sipping green tea to the sound of soft jazz.
Three years have passed since she opened in Estevan Village, yet she continues to honour the space’s previous occupant, Padella Kitchen + Wine, by keeping a single red wall painted and decorated just how the Italian restaurant left it.
A Thai poem written by King Rama IV about his wife and her delicious cooking graces the opposite wall. Much of the restaurant is painted gold, a colour Ruyan said has calming value.
In Thailand’s Phatthalung province, she grew up with the scent of turmeric, chili and basil in her backyard. Her family, from its own mill, ground fresh rice that her father deemed sacred.
“I had no time for this kind of knowledge, but my dad kind of humbly looked at me like, ‘One day you will find it useful.’”
Her mother regularly tested…
