If it's not spicy, it's not US Thai, Dec. 6

John Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

No matter how tough you think your taste buds are, Ma Vue strongly discourages you from ordering your green curry "Thai hot" at US Thai Cafe.

"A few people ask for Thai hot but they find out it's too hot," said Vue, owner of the restaurant open since August in Edgewater near Sloan's Lake. He pantomimes a customer mopping his brow and begging for ice water.

"In Thailand, food is very spicy and the chef just came from Thailand. It's always spicy - that's how it comes."

Sitting with him is his chef, Aung Kyaw. His last name is pronounced like "Joe" and that's what everyone calls him.

"If it isn't spicy, it isn't Thai," Joe said with a huge grin. He is still learning English, so Vue (pronounced "Voo") helps translate for him.

Language is what brought the two men together. Vue is a Laotian-born computer programmer with no restaurant experience; Joe is a chef born in Myanmar.

"I was volunteering as a translator for refugee people at the ACC (African Community Center) in Denver. The funny thing is they were looking for a Burmese translator and called me by mistake," Vue said. He speaks English, French, Thai, Lao and Hmong, but not Burmese. "But I knew that many Burmese speak Thai, so I started talking to him."

As Vue helped Joe and his wife through appointments, Joe started asking questions. "He asked me why there were no street vendors in Denver selling food. He wanted to make food at his apartment and sell it from a cart. I told him he could not do that," Vue said. He eventually learned that Joe had been cooking for years in restaurants in Thailand.

"When he cooked a meal for me, I realized his skill was way beyond most of the Thai cooking in Denver. My budget was small, but I commit myself to helping this guy out," he said.

Vue took out a loan, scouted locations, dealt with licenses and learned the business from scratch with advice from his brother in California. Friends from the refugee assistance group volunteered labor and paint to get US Thai open.

Vue, 44, said he deeply appreciated the gesture because he also was once a refugee. A member of the Hmong tribe that assisted the U.S. government during the Vietnam War, he escaped from his home in northeast Laos to Thailand. After living in a refugee camp for 18 months, he was moved to an orphanage in France for a year and a half before rejoining his family and settling in Oklahoma in 1980.

Joe grew up in Pa Ang, a small city in southern Myanmar - the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma, which is bordered by Thailand, China, Laos and Bangladesh. "I learned how to cook at restaurants in Thailand when we moved there from Burma 20 years ago," Joe said.

According to Joe, the cuisine in Myanmar is similar to Thai, but "the spices and flavors are different - also the way we cook fish. We cut it in pieces; the Thais cook whole fish." One of his favorite dishes, he said, was whole pork leg, boiled with herbs and then deep-fried and served with a special sauce.

At US Thai Cafe, Joe serves what he considers to be "street food."

The best-selling items on the menu so far are the dishes many American diners are familiar with: pad Thai, "drunken" noodles, massaman curry and panang curry. But Joe also has added dishes like the Pak US Thai Special involving a cornucopia of vegetables.

"I try to be as original as possible," Joe said. "I do everything fresh - there's no packaged food. I make sauces every day. If you make a sauce and keep it too long, it's no good."

Joe moved to the U.S. 18 months ago with his wife as political refugees. They now have a 5-month-old son, "a real American," said Joe, who lists his age as 30, but admits that he may be 34 or 35. "There were no records kept then," Vue said.

Though occupied with making a living and making a success of the cafe, Joe still dreams of the future. "I'd like to have my own restaurant and serve what I want to serve. It would be fine dining Thai food," he said.

THE LAST WORD: kung thod kathiang phid Thai (pronounced kong tot khah-tee-ang pit tie) - Thai-style, deep-fried garlic shrimp with chile Coming Friday: Look for John Lehndorff's review of Tula Latin Bistro in Weekend Spotlight and find his columns, reviews and the 2006 Dining Guide at www.RockyMountainNews.com.

US Thai Cafe

• What: A small, modest restaurant specializing in authentic fare from Thailand

• Where: 5228 25th Ave., Edgewater

• Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday

• Price range: $3.50-$12.75 starters; $5.95-$13.95 entrees

• Information: 303-233-3345; www.usthaicafe.com

• John's favorite items: Tempura-fried Thai egg rolls; spicy-crunchy green papaya salad; drunken noodles with pork; and fiery green curry with chicken

• Also available: toomkha soup with coconut milk, lemon grass and lemon leaf; pineapple fried rice with raisins, cashews and peas; masaman curry with potato; US Thai spice salmon; pad thai; and Thai custard dessert

To nominate a restaurant for this column, e-mail: lehndorffj@RockyMountainNews.com