dining out
Food to Make a Thai
Grandma Proud
Former Spice II chef/owner opens Kai Yang
WRITTEN BY ESTHER DAVIDOWITZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNE-MARIE CARUSO
ANI RAMEN
R
estaurateur Sheree
Sarabhaya, 60, wanted
to retire. The owner of
Spice II in Montclair
and Boon Thai Kitchen
in Livingston had
no plans of opening yet another
restaurant.
Her son, Luck Sarabhayavanija,
35, however, had other plans... for
his mother. Sarabhayavanija, owner
of the popular Ani Ramen restaurant
46
SPRING 2019 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
Montclair
KAI YANG
345 BLOOMFIELD AVE.
(973) 509-2110
KAIYANGNJ.COM
that began life in Montclair, spawned
a clone in Jersey City and is duplicat-
ing itself in Summit and Maplewood,
implored his mom to open a Thai
restaurant that served the food
his grandma cooked — casual,
unpretentious Thai street food.
“It’s the food he grew up with,”
says Sarabhaya, “the food my mom
cooked.”
It wasn’t, however, until her son
used that laudatory word “honor,”
as in “Do it to honor grandma,” that
Sarabhaya, a Bangkok native, caved.
“I couldn’t say no to that,” she says.
The Bloomfield resident closed