More about those changes

Yesterday I told you how much more quickly our kitchen gets food to you, the customer. Today I want to tell you what we are doing with our extra time.

First and most important, True Thai now delivers! If you read my blog you already knew that, but if you are new to Anna's True Thai News, we have been delivering to local hospitals and colleges. We will also deliver to your home if you order at least $25 worth of food.

Now let me tell you the catch: You have to live within 5-6 miles of True Thai. Sorry, no deliveries to Wayzata or Woodbury!

Deliveries have been going very well, and even though we haven't done much to publicize our deliveries, we keep getting more calls. And I suspect that after I publish this post, we'll get still more calls and that is a good thing.

Now you may be thinking, Anna Anna! Why don't you get a food truck?! That is a story for another day. Tomorrow, as a matter of fact.

Our new kitchen manager

One of Korey's most important recommendations was that we get a new kitchen manager. Ever since Ped died, different employees have tried to fill the gap but Korey saw that it was not working well. Too much inefficiency, too much running to the grocery store for produce we should never run out of.

Jason Dorweiler is our new kitchen manager. Formerly with Big Bowl, Jason and Korey have already transformed our kitchen. I think you know that when you have all your ingredients ready to go, Thai food is very quick to prepare. Nothing cooks better than a hot wok if you know what you are doing. But you need prep people and alert wait staff so that food gets to the table as quickly as it leaves the wok.

It's hard for customers to see this difference, but you will notice it. Takeout orders now take fifteen minutes or less from the time you call in until your food is out front waiting for you (OK, if we're really busy maybe 20 minutes but we're working on that). Even I could not believe it. Jason keeps things running smoothly and Korey has found new staff who take their jobs very, very seriously. True Thai is not fast food, but we now serve quality food quickly.

Tomorrow I will tell you more about what we are doing with all that time we are saving.

Fish sauce revisited

Thank you to my friend who showed me this link about how ketchup is a variation on fish sauce!

Ketchup actually started out as a fish sauce and somehow evolved into the much more widely-consumed condiment we know today. Early recipes of ketchup contained sodium benzoate -- which was banned in the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. That ban led to other formulations which contained vinegar as a preservative and used ripe tomatoes.

Between this and the true history of Worcestershire sauce, I am feeling very culturally superior today, culinarily speaking!

Ketchup Fish!

[picture credit]

Happy Labor Day Weekend

Just a quick reminder that True Thai is open Saturday and Sunday this weekend, but closed on Monday, Labor Day, so our employees can spend the day with their family. I suspect many of them will be going to the State Fair.

Please enjoy a happy and safe weekend with your friends and loved ones.

At last night's memorial service

Thank you to the five police officers from the 3rd Precinct and to 60 of Ped's friends and family who attended last night's celebration Ped's life on the I-94 and Riverside off ramp. Channel 5 has a video of us at the restaurant.

The walk was calming because we could feel Ped's presence, but we could not stop our tears when we got to the site of where Ped died. Here are some pictures from last night that tell the story better than I can.

Ped's mother and father

close up of flowers

more flowers

11:08 pm

11:08 pm, August 23, 2011

I have not been to the I-94 Riverside Avenue off ramp since August 24 of last year. I went to it eight times that day, but have not been back since. I do not take that exit, and if I drive by I look away as I go by. For me, it is a place of sadness and death.

Tonight is the first anniversary of Ped's death and I will visit the exit ramp tonight at 11:08 to pay my respects.

Each day at the restaurant I am reminded of Ped's life and how he lived. I haven't slept for three days now thinking about going back tonight to where he died.

Ped, I still miss you every day.

VOTE FOR DEBORAH RUSSELL FOR JUDGE

Deborah Russell, the hard working prosecutor who put Amy Senser in prison, is running for District Court Judge. Her campaign Facebook page is here, and her campaign website is here.

I am not a resident of Minneapolis, but I strongly support Deborah and encourage True Thai's Minneapolis customers to consider voting for her in today's primary election.

Aung Thu Bo, Rest in Peace

Another tragedy in the extended True Thai family as our long-time cook Saw's 19-year-old brother, Aung Thu Bo, was senselessly murdered last Friday. Mara Gottfried has the story at the Pioneer Press.

Aung was a computer engineering student and worked part-time at Lyngblomsten Care Center in St. Paul and in the Hamline University computer lab. Like Ped, Aung gave his paychecks to his family.

The Bo family are Burmese refugees, all of whom lived for a while in a refugee camp in Thailand before coming the United States.

Our deepest condolences to the Bo family and all of Aung's friends.

True Thai's connection to Olympic Gold!

No, True Thai does not have any connection to Team USA's Olympic basketball team. But my weightlifting trainer Katie knows Gyorgy Szalai, and he trained Behdad Salimikordasiabi, the 370-pound Iranian weightlifter who won the Gold medal in the men's 105+ kg. class.

Behdad lifted 455 kg. or 2.7 times his own weight. Try multiplying your weight by 2.7. Do you think you could lift that much weight? I would have to lift 260 lbs. to match what Behdad did. I do not think I will ever lift 260 lbs., but if I do, I will be sure to let you know.

How likely is it that I will ever be able to lift 260 lbs.? The smallest women's weight class is 48 kg. (105 lbs.).  This year the Gold medal winner, Wang Mingjuan of China, lifted 205 kg. (451 lbs.). That's 4.3 times her own weight! I think that is very impressive for someone my height. I do not think I will try to beat her record.

TRUE THAI DELIVERS

For a little while now we have been doing deliveries in the Seward neighborhood. We did not know if deliveries would be popular (they are!).

The minimum order is $25 but we'll bring it straight to your doorstep for lunch, dinner or any time we're open. This is proving to be very popular with some customers and our staff, all of whom want to make the deliveries — but we'll see how enthusiastic they are when winter comes!

Anniversaries

True Thai turns ten this fall, but we're just newcomers to the Seward neighborhood. This Saturday the Seward Co-op will celebrate its 40th anniversary! Wow, that's a lot of organic fruit and vegetables.

Lots of fun this Saturday from Fiddles on Fire to The Bunny Clogs as well as The Brass Messengers,  with Malamanya and Willie Murphy thrown in for good measure. There may even be a few hippies there if you have small children who'd like to see one close up!

As well as food, arts, radio stations, bicycles and all the other usual Seward stuff.

Do this in remembrance of me

In the days before the sentencing hearing, I heard that Amy Senser had tattooed Anousone's name on her wrist. The rumor was true. You could only see a little bit of it during the hearing, but afterwards her attorney, Eric Nelson, acknowledged that she had gotten the tattoo to help her remember Anousone always. I do not think Mrs. Senser realizes how appropriate that was.

In Thai, Anousone means remembrance or souvenir. It means the same in Lao, but for Lao people there is a very heavy spiritual significance attached to the word anousone. Not souvenir like a postcard, but souvenir like when a veteran points to a scar and calls it his souvenir from the war. The picture of Marines at Iwo Jima would be an example of something Lao people would call anousone.

Anousone is not a traditional Lao name. It was popular during the war years, however, because there was so much to remember. So many lives were lost, so many families lost fathers, sons and brothers that it seemed natural to many to name their baby Anousone, or remembrance.

I should also probably mention that Anousone liked his name so much that he had the letter A tattooed on his left forearm.

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I wrote that a while ago, but did not post it because it was clear that most of you felt that the sentencing put closure on this case. But for those of you who are law or law enforcement students, I wanted to share with you this posting for a free training that you can earn POST or CLE credits for.

Free training August 2nd: Navigating Through the Challenges of CVH/CVO Cases
MAC and MADD are hosting a free training on August 2, 2012 from 12:30-4:00 (registration begins at 12:00) in St. Paul at the Hiway Federal Credit
Union – Administration Building, 840 Westminster Street.  

The speakers include Deborah Russell, the Assistant Hennepin County Attorney who prosecuted Amy Senser; Sgt. Dan Beasley, Minnesota State Patrol; and Kelly Nicholson, Victim Witness Supervisor, Dakota County Attorney’s Office.  POST and CLE
credits have been applied for.  Please register by July 30th at:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhMuH9Aq72fedGNsLVJIZGxub1Axcm9iREhUX21vdHc

I do not think you have to be a law or law enforcement student to attend.