That One Time I Nearly Destroyed The Family Business

Owner of Night + Market and Night + Market Song in Los Angeles.

- Kris Yenbamroong

I grew up in my parents’ restaurant, Talésai, where my grandmother was the chef. It was the first mainstream Thai restaurant in L.A. I took it over when I was 25 and nearly put it out of business before my father came out of retirement and helped me correct the course. Then, when I was 28, I turned a former dry cleaner next to the restaurant into my own place, Night + Market. Three years later I opened a second location in Silver Lake. I sat down with my dad, Prakas, 67, to reflect on our family’s three generations of California Thai cooking…

Kris: What motivated you to open Talésai?