The space at 1 West Portal Ave. was not available. At least, not to just anyone. The real estate agent was told it was on the market only for the owners of Khao Tiew, the Thai restaurant just around the corner, should they call. “This is luck,” says Khao Tiew co-owner Arkaranit Dusitnitsakul, who did, in fact, call.
On May 13, Dusitnitsakul and chef Wipada Rattanapun opened their second restaurant, Tur (opens in new tab), in the two-story, blue-and-white corner location, which housed Squat & Gobble for 32 years. Unlike the dinner-only Khao Tiew, Tur is all about breakfast and lunch; the menu is inspired by the dishes Dusitnitsakul and Rattanapun craved in the morning when they were kids in Thailand.
There’s a large canoe hanging over the register in the downstairs dining room, where servers and cooks fly in and out of an open kitchen. Antique photos of Thailand’s former kings adorn the walls, and little ceramic turtles hug salt and pepper shakers at each table. Dusitnitsakul’s uncle, an artist who lives in Thailand, helped put together the aprons and decor, just as he did at Khao Tiew.
The menu is small, split between egg-based dishes, seven kinds of Thai-style jook, sweet plates like honeycomb French toast and pancakes, and “tur tur,” a section that offers everything from confit duck with eggs to a sizzling tonkatsu sandwich. Varunthorn Ratanakachain, who worked at her family’s Darla Cafe (opens in new tab) in Saratoga before joining the Tur team, is helming the kitchen.
A waffle and honey walnut shrimp dish is inspired by M.Y. China (opens in new tab); Dusitnitsakul and Rattanapun say they think about Marin Yan’s now-closed restaurant all the time. The dish features two shrimp cakes slathered in honey sauce, dotted with tobiko and a slice of lemon on the side. Caribbean pasta made with spaghetti noodles in a night-black squid ink littered with dried chiles is an early hit.
The coffee, made with Counter Culture beans, is no afterthought. The Talay, made with butterfly pea tea and coconut milk, arrives in a tall glass before a server pours a shot of espresso on top tableside. Dusitnitsakul was inspired by Market Street’s Mazarine Coffee (opens in new tab), which “blew his mind” back when he was a student at Academy of Art University.
The couple plan to continue opening restaurants and are eyeing the West Portal neighborhood. Dusitnitsakul says they believe the space determines the concept: If they find something on the small side, they might open a cafe; if bigger, maybe an upscale restaurant. Many fans wanted a second Khao Tiew location in the former Squat & Gobble space, they say. But they want each of their restaurants to be singular.
Someday, they hope to open a Japanese-style hand-pulled noodle shop or a small Asian grocery store. That way, when they run out of ingredients, they can just run across the street. “We think about money as the last thing,” Dusitnitsakul says. “We love food. We love coffee. We want everyone to love our style.”
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