TUE - home cooking thai food

TUE opened a couple of weeks ago and i have been eyeing it since it opened. I love thai food, I suppose that is a bit of a cliché, but i do love it as i do love pizza, waffles, burgers, italian, french, chinese, etc... I love food. That is why my project f(r)eed me NY is so exciting and i am really happy about the response i am getting. Although there have been rejections and many failed pitches, the successes are beginning to shine through.

F(r)eed me NY means : feed me, free and free me from hunger. I suppose it is a little melodramatic this whole project but eating in restaurants is not possible when broke and in between jobs and new to a city.

I walked up and down Greenwich avenue, near 6 th avenue several times before entering and offering my service as a writer in exchange for a free meal. Sam, the go to guy / manager was quite receptive, accepted and added "if this will help you."

I was offered a seat either inside or out and went outside as the summer air has been feeling like a warm blanket you never want to leave.

My waitress approached -whom later i was told her name is Tal , asked if i would like something to drink. "I'll have the thai iced tea with milk, " i said. She brought me a gorgeous looking orange rust colored drink in a tiny bottle (one of those old fashioned ones that milk used to come in); and a glass that looked like it was a jar. (very trendy these days). Nice presentation.

It tasted as good as it looked. A little bit sweet and spicy. I could not identify the ingredients so i looked up thai iced tea on wikipedia and the net and it explained that thai iced tea usually contains black tea leaves, sugar, condensed milk, star anise, orange blossom water, crushed tamarind seed, and some other spices.

I then ordered the creamy coconut milk, chicken, galanga and lemongrass soup. Again, beautiful and superb.

And for the entrée, i had the sauté stir fry with chicken, mixed vegetables and ginger sauce. Again, excellent. The vegetables were very fresh and not overcooked; the sauce was not invasive - there was merely a hint of it.

When finished, i asked Sam if it was a family business. "Yes'" he replied. "Is your mother the chef?" "She made the recipes, but we train people," he said.

I asked what TUE means. "It means lucky, happy, plenty, a blessing in thai."

I responded with: "It was a blessing eating here, thank you."