7 Atlanta Restaurant Families You Need to Know
Zagat 2017
THE TIGHT-KNIT, MULTIGENERATIONAL TEAMS BEHIND THE ATL FOOD SCENE
The Niyomkul family
Restaurants: Nan Thai Fine Dining, Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft, Tamarind Seed, Chai Yo Modern Thai
Nan and Charlie Niyomkul are the married couple behind Nan and Tamarind Seed, two of the more prominent Thai restaurants in Atlanta — the latter providing something more familiar to American expectations, while the former brings a little glitz to traditional dishes. In fact, Nan's favorite dish at her namesake restaurant is the appetizer chau maung, a steamed rose-tea dumpling packed with palm sugar, minced chicken, ground peanuts and pickled radish that's "an old-fashioned Thai recipe that was once only served to the king and queen of Thailand," she says. Their children Dee Dee and Eddie joined the business early, learning cooking techniques from their grandmother Payow Sanguankiat in Thailand, who had been a street-food vendor. In 2010 they opened Tuk Tuk, bringing a more contemporary vibe to Brookwood and fusing street fare with larger dishes. Up next, Dee Dee will head up a restaurant called Chai Yo in Buckhead's tony Buckhead Two plaza, and should deliver the same upscale luxury found at Nan, whose bathrooms decked out in gold have become something of an ATL icon (seriously).
Family favorites: Dee Dee's excited about featuring a dish called sakoo sai moo at Chai Yo, a tapioca-based dumpling with turnip and pork, passed down from Nan and her mother before her. This is the first time it'll appear on any of the Niyomkul family restaurant menus.