Closed Sunday for the 4th

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True Thai Restaurant will be closed on Sunday, July 4th.

Please accept our wishes for a happy holiday weekend.

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Avenue of the Annas

Wow. This is sooo strange I cannot believe it.

My name is Anna Fieser. I think you already knew that. I live in a small house in Como Park in St. Paul. For years I had a Latina neighbor to the south of me. Her name was also Anna F. Just today I learned that the older couple who lives just north of me has the last initial of F, and her name is also Anna.

Pretty strange, huh? I have new neighbors on my south side and today I was in the yard and I heard one of the children yell for "Anna!" I turned and said, "I'm Anna." He looked at me and said, "I want Anna my mom."

I was pretty weirded out and asked him what their last name was. Yes, it started with an F.

There used to be TV ads about the United Colors of Benetton. I think our block has just established the United Colors of Anna.Anna F. to my north is white. I am Thai and my neighbor to the south (who lives in the house the Latina Anna F. used to live in) is an African American.

I think we should call ourselves the Axis of Annas!

True Thai's growing family

The longer True Thai Restaurant has been open, the deeper our ties to our customers have grown but I do not think that really explains this.

All spring long customers have been bringing us plants. Basil mostly, chili pepper plants and some flowers. I think many of you really enjoy knowing that some of our basil and chili peppers are grown in "Anna's garden" behind the restaurant.

Each time the staff tells me a customer has left a new plant, I am touched. You give us your love and your money — that is enough! But we will grow these plants and who knows? The next time you get basil stir fry from True Thai, there may be some basil in it that was grown only a few yards away.
That's eating locally!

Minnesotans like to eat out!

A fascinating new study says that Twin Cities residents eat out more than almost any other people in the U.S. Average households in Minneapolis spend $3,372 a year dining out, or $9.24 a day.

That's enough to buy any appetizer on True Thai's menu, four of our six different kinds of soup, four of our seven kinds of salads, the vegetarian options for seven of our ten kinds of curry, any of our wok-fried entrees that have a vegetarian option, or the veggie option for any of our rice or noodle dishes.

With drinks, and if you order meat or seafood, you'll probably spend more like $11-12 plus tip, but I think many of you already have a very good understanding of how True Thai helps you to stretch your budget dollars.

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A quick update to let you know that all five free copies of the Crave Minneapolis book have been spoken for and will be mailed out tomorrow.

Not to rub it in, but the last copy went unasked for all weekend and then we got a request from Gigi just this afternoon.

Congratulations to Gigi, Marvin, Megan, Valerie and Kara — you are Anna's True Thai News blog's first ever contest winners!

Closed Memorial Day

True Thai Restaurant will be closed Monday, May 31,
in observance of Memorial Day.


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Save $20 by reading this post!

This is True Thai's page in the Crave Company's new book, Crave Minneapolis St. Paul. It is subtitled The Urban Girl's Manifesto but having looked through the book I do not think any of us still qualify as "girls."

But if you are from Minnesota and if you are interested in women entrepreneurs . . . maybe you would enjoy reading the entire book and not just my page. I have set aside five copies for readers so the first five of you to e-mail me with your mailing address will receive a free copy in the mail (or if you prefer we'll hold it for you at the cash register at the restaurant).

If you click on the above image you can read my page for free, and if you are quick to email me you can read the other pages, including the layouts on Tracy Singleton of the Birchwood Café, Linda Haug of Café Twenty Eight, Angelina Rodriquez Corbett of La Cocinita Restaurante, and the amazing Kim Bartmann of the Red Stag Supper Club, Bryant Lake Bowl and Barbette, as well as a lot of other women who are not lucky enough to own a restaurant.

The case of the missing blogger

Those of you who do not visit the restaurant on a regular basis may have been wondering what's going on with True Thai. The biggest news has been that I've had my left arm in a sling since May 9 when I injured my left arm doing lap pull downs at the gym.




It's not that I can't type with one hand, but having only one hand does not fit into my very busy lifestyle! At the restaurant I have been promoted to the role of greeter while others work diligently to make sure the cash drawer doesn't balance at the end of the night.

I will be sling-free and back up to normal semi-frequent blogging by next week. Until then you'll have to stop by the restaurant to get your True Thai news fix.

Have you made your Mother's Day reservations?

Mother's Day is this Sunday, May 9. Have you made your dinner reservations yet? True Thai's reservation book is filling up so don't procrastinate or you'll find yourself eating at 4 p.m.!

Last year we were busy all day, even during the notoriously slow hours of 2 to 5 pm. Next to Valentine's Day, I cannot think of a busier day for restaurants. But that does not mean that you're not welcome to bring in a special dessert or bottle of wine. We'll be glad to help with whatever it takes to make your mom happy.
And whether you eat out or stay at home for your special meal with mom, True Thai Restaurant wishes you a happy Mother's Day with many, many more to come.

My 3rd Blogiversary!

I have been told that blogiversary is a word, and this is the third anniversary of my first post at Anna's True Thai News. (Hmm, seems to be very similar to a post I just wrote....)

Coincidentally, it is almost exactly sixteen years to the day since I started working for Ramsey County as a Public Health Nurse (PHN). While I am glad that True Thai Restaurant makes our diners happy, I feel a greater sense of pride and accomplishment with my achievements with Ramsey County. There are many good Thai restaurants in the Twin Cities now, but there is still a very real need for more public health personnel to work with young mothers, vulnerable seniors and individuals with mental and physical development issues.

When I started working for the county, young mothers and moms to be would see my designer purses and Mall of America makeup and they'd tell me they wanted to be a nurse like me so they could dress nicely. They saw a connection between the clothes and makeup and the job.

Later, after True Thai opened, many of my clients told me they wanted to be just like me because they thought I was rich. True Thai has given many people a good living, but it has not made me rich, just very, very busy. Again my clients were making assumptions not warranted by the facts. Young people often do that. They saw me standing by the cash register and thought my job was to take money from people. They did not see me arguing with vendors over shipments, scheduling staff or managing personnel disputes, but they always noticed my jewelry.

Lately, things have changed. Suddenly the pregnant teens and teen moms I'm working with are complimenting me on my physical fitness, and telling me they want to learn how to eat healthier food. This makes me very happy. I'm glad to tell them that yes, there is a connection between eating the right food, exercise, and success in life.

Not everyone who dines at True Thai is in great shape, but when you're there every day, it's hard not to notice that many of our customers who are overweight become less so over time. Thai food is healthy food. I also like to think that because we're just a few blocks from the Mississippi River, our customers sometimes take a nice long walk after eating. Thai food and a long walk? That's one secret for living a long and healthy life.

There are two kinds of success in America today. I have experienced both of them. When True Thai opened I actually gained weight. I didn't have time to cook and ate out way too often. I didn't have time to exercise, and drove everywhere because I was in a hurry.

Then Carla and the gang at Los Campeones Gym came into my life and I learned that by making time to work out, I had more energy and got more done. Instead of eating out, I ate only food from True Thai's kitchen and started carrying healthy snacks with me to eat while on the job for the county.

When the girls started asking me about diet and exercise the other day, I almost cried I was so happy. I hope this is a new fad and that more and more teens start worrying less about their clothes and financial success, focusing instead on their health and well being, and the health and well being of their children.

Yes, I have been blogging for three years now, but I have been giving sermons to young teen mothers for sixteen years. Best of all, those sermons are finally starting to pay off.

[As for the picture on the left, no, these are not my clients! They are my coworkers. And the county does not make us wear Red Cross signs on our heads! (Usually.) But I am including this picture because I know you like pictures, and because I thought it was time you saw one of Nurse Anna instead of the usual "Anna holding food" pictures.]

Thank you readers!

It is a good thing that Thai people like to say thank you, because I seem to say those two words a lot. Thank you today to all our supporters who read City Pages and who voted for us for Best Thai Restaurant.


And congratulations to Sen Yai Sen Lek for winning this year's critic's choice Best Thai Restaurant award. They now join the Twin Cities Thai Restaurant Hall of Fame along with two -time winner True Thai Restaurant, Sawatdee, Chiang Mai, Bangkok Thai, and Tom Rup Thai as well as winners in other categories King & I (Best Place for Romance, 2009) and Taste of Thailand (Best Egg Roll, 2009). I think it's safe to say that Minnesotans love Thai food!

As for the other awards out there . . . .


Sorry, I could only find this old photo but according to the list on the right, this is our 28th! fine dining award since opening in 2002. But the best recognition for a restaurateur is seeing familiar faces coming in every night.

On behalf of all the cooks, kitchen help, servers and hosts at True Thai Restaurant, thank you for your continuing support. (We love you too!)

True Thai cuts prices!

No, we haven't lowered our menu or buffet prices, but thanks to some very astute purchasing decisions by True Thai's wine staff we have just revised our Beer & Wine list, lowering almost all of the glass and bottle prices!

Bottle prices have gone down an average of $1, and most glasses of wine are now 50¢ less!

We also have several new wines for you to pick from:

REDS:
A. Mano Primitivo from Italy
Two Hands Gnarly Dudes Shiraz from Australia's Barossa Valley
Bodega Goulart Classico Malbec and Diseno Malbec from Argentina
Menage a Trois, a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet grapes from Napa Valley

WHITES:
Sherwood Estate Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand
Vila Verde from Portugal
Makulu Pinotage Rosé from South Africa
Apremont Jacquere from France
Clean Slate Riesling from Germany
Angove's Nine Vines Rosé from Australia

I do not know why there is a rosé in both lists, but I am not the wine steward!

I wish we could lower the rest of our menu prices but the cost of food has not gone down even though our commitment to serving the best Thai food at the lowest prices has gone up.

True Thai: trying to help you beat this economy one meal at a time.

Happy Songkran!

It's funny but the older I get, the more Songkran makes me think of my childhood. Thailand's traditional New Year's celebration runs from tomorrow, Tuesday, April 13th, through Thursday, April 15th. Given the current unrest in Thailand I hope you don't mind my talking about a Songkran that happened many years ago.

I was eleven years old and my friends and I were roaming the streets of Chanthaburi celebrating the big holiday. Traditionally kids and young people throw water at each other on Songkran but wise merchants shut off their outside faucets so as to keep the water fights away from their shops. One of my older brothers, however, owned a coffee shop and he told us that we could have "all the ice we wanted."

Ice?!!! This was taking Songkran to an entirely new level! Little Anna and her girlfriends grabbed all the ice we could carry and started throwing it at our victims. As it turned out, ice hurts more than water and the boys with us quickly discovered that their victims were not shy about swatting young behinds in retaliation. But not the girls. We would laugh and smile and run away to throw ice at new victims.

I do not recall exactly how this happened, but we ended up riding in the back of a pickup truck throwing ice at soldiers. The soldiers didn't laugh but luckily for us they didn't reach for their guns. It wasn't until years later that I realized how lucky we were not to have gotten into serious trouble.

Mostly I remember that my first "snowball fight" was on Songkran when I was eleven years old. It has always been a special memory for me as I did not see "snow" again until I moved to Kentucky many years later!

But I have not had my ultimate Songkran water fight yet. That will come when I finally get to have an elephant on my side!


Water fighters with elephants on their team always win!