Closed Thanksgiving Day

As usual, True Thai Restaurant will be closed on Thanksgiving day only. We will be keeping our regular hours on both Wednesday (Thanksgiving Eve?) and Black Friday. We hope you enjoy this holiday with your family and friends.

And remember — turkey is not indigenous to Thailand. True Thai is a year-round turkey-free zone. That's something to keep in mind when you look in your refrigerator this weekend for something to eat that doesn't have turkey in it.

Another thing to remember is that if you haven't visited True Thai in a while, there are seven (7!) new items on the menu for you to check out, all of which are guaranteed not to contain turkey (but there is tryptophan in our spinach and tofu dishes for people who like to nap after eating).

Looking ahead to Christmas

The fundraiser is over but we still have not opened the box that contains your donations to Ped's family. We are going to keep it at the restaurant until Christmas day, which is also Ped's birthday. So if you still would like to make a donation, the box will be at the restaurant.

We will then open it on Christmas when True Thai employees and Ped's family are going to gather to remember Ped and to open the donations box. I wish I could invite all of True Thai's and Ped's supporters to be with us, but this will be a family affair for Ped's family and coworkers. I'm sure you will all be with your families this Christmas day but if you have no place to go, talk to me and I'm sure we'll have room for you.

Our four-day fundraiser begins tonight!

Less than a few hours are left until the charity fundraising event for the family of Anousone "Ped" Phanthavong begins! Angel2Diva Boutique will be taking over the party room and will be offering designer jeans, shirts, purses and accessories for sale, with 20% of all sales going to the family.

If you are not into designer clothes, there will be envelopes and a box so you can still make a donation if you like. Anyone making a purchase or donation will get to try some free sesame ball appetizers.

The fundraiser begins tonight, Thursday, November 3, from 5 pm until 9 pm, and will continue each night through Sunday, November 6. We hope you can make it, and we hope you find something you like.

Confessions of a recovering sugar junkie

I thought I heard on the radio that today was Anti-Sugar Day. Since Halloween is tomorrow, that seemed to make sense to me but further research showed that the Internet has not heard of National Anti-Sugar Day, although there is a growing anti-sugar movement. The Internet instead says that tomorrow is National Candy Corn Day. I think the Internet is pro-sugar, especially since Friday was National Chocolate Day, this Friday is National Candy Day, Saturday is National Doughnut Day and Monday, November 7, is National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day.

I'm guessing the Bittersweet Chocolate day is to help Halloween candy junkies come down slowly.

I used to be a sugar junkie. I blame the Indians because they were the first to turn sugarcane juice into edible crystalline carbohydrates (i.e., sucrose, lactose and fructose).

When I was a sugar junkie, I would drink regular Coke (one ounce of sugar per bottle), and every meal was followed by dessert, usually pie or ice cream. I knew the best bakeries for cakes and pies, and, not surprisingly, I weighed half again as much as I do now.

I gave up sugar when I started working out. Ped was very good about cooking healthy meals for me with lots of protein, healthy fat and vegetables. (Hmm, sounds a lot like Thai cooking!) Eating right didn't make me lose weight, but eating right made sure that the weight I burned off through exercise stayed off.

Enjoy your Halloween week sugar binge, but when the sugar rush wears off, give some thought to restricting your sugar intake. The connection between excessive sugar intake and obesity, diabetes and other health problems is well established, but it takes will power to avoid getting too much sugar in your diet, especially since National Vanilla Cupcake, Indian Pudding, Spicy Hermit Cookie, Peanut Butter Fudge, Parfait, Cake, Bavarian Cream Pie, Chocolates, and Mousse Days are all coming up in November! (Trust me, you do not want to know about December's scheduled sugar.)

Undead posts!

No time to write a new post for Halloween, but here are links to past Halloween posts:

• Aaiiieeee!!!
• True Thai Halloween
• Halloween vs Loi Krathong

And if you think that's scary, I may rerun them again next year!

Add this to your calendars

True Thai is proud to be hosting a fundraiser for Anousone "Ped" Phanthavong's family. Here are some screenshots from the promotional flyer.

Angel 2 Diva Boutique will be donating 20% of their gross sales to the fund, and will have lots of designer clothes and accessories for sale but you don't have to buy anything — we will also be accepting donations!

We hope to see you the first weekend in November. 

Peppercornpalooza!

Something happened this week at True Thai that has never happened before. We put a new dish, Young Peppercorn Stir Fry, into the buffet. We had to refill that pan twelve times before the lunch crowd left. Twelve times? I do not know what the old record was, but I am sure it was in the single digits. Wow. You really like young peppercorns!

Here is the description we put on the "new items" menu insert:

Basil, young green peppercorns, hot peppers and bamboo shoots come together in a truly Thai stir-fry dish. Excellent when served very spicy, intriguing at any temperature. Served on the stem, you can eat these peppercorns with your fingers, or you can use your fork to blend the peppercorns directly into the stir fry. Either way it's a peppery new twist on a classic Thai stir fry dish.

Peppercorns come on the stem. The technical word for a "bunch" of peppercorns is drupe. Green peppercorns are immature black peppercorns, just like the ones you grind to get black pepper. Wikipedia describes their flavor as "piquant and fresh," which is a fancy way of saying that they taste peppery. Not peppery in a spicy jalapeño way, but peppery in an explosive black pepper way.

What happens when you mix spicy peppers with peppercorns? According to True Thai's lunch customers, the correct answer is that you make an extra trip back to the buffet for some more.

Another hit and run

I am sad to report that an Augsburg student was the victim of a hit and run accident over a week ago. So far no leads, no one has come forward, and the local news media seems to have already tired of this story. Is it true that hit and run accidents are no longer news unless the community rises up in anger?

Nineteen-year-old Jason Stevens of Rochester does not deserve to be forgotten anymore than Ped does. He was an honors student and an athlete. The Highway Patrol is investigating, but it sounds like this hit and run driver was not courteous enough to leave behind any clues.

I have to wonder if this driver was encouraged by the success (so far) of the Senser family's hit and run strategy. Does Minnesota law enourage drivers who hit pedestrians to drive off?

Mari, a law student at William Mitchell College of Law, contacted me recently to see if I would talk to some students there about Ped's case. I declined because I am very busy, but also because I have shared everything I know about Ped's case in my blog.

But maybe Mari's classmates could be motivated to study Minnesota's DWI and hit and run laws to see if they work the way they are supposed to. I do not get the sense that they do. If Mari and her law school classmates would like to lobby the legislature for stronger laws to protect the innocent, I'd be glad to serve them dinner at True Thai, and then talk to them to see how I can help to get a new law passed, one that will make the Twin Cities safe for pedestrians again.

• • •

I think I need to publish these posts more quickly. Here is yet another hit and run story. I'm sure if I look again, I will find some more. Hit and run accidents are up 15% in recent years, and one reason (aside from alcohol) is that there are more people driving who do not have licenses.

What's in a name

So many people who come to the restaurant to talk to me want to know more about Ped. Maybe the most interesting story about him is how Anousone Phanthavong came to be known as "Ped."

To begin with, Ped is not the nickname his family gave to him. They called him Pec. Pec is not a Lao word because it comes from the name of an American plane. Just as Anousone was born, a bomb exploded close by. People who saw the plane said the name "The Inspector" was painted on its side. From "The Inspector" came "Pec," Anousone's nickname. Pec as in boom!, a bomb just exploded.

I am not exactly sure how Anousone went from Pec to Ped when he started working at True Thai, but I think it is almost like a bad pun that his nickname went from boom to duck, which is what Ped means in Lao. Duck as in the bird, but in English it also means to take cover, a good thing to do when a bomb goes off.

It's OK when people say Ped's name the way it looks, but Ped is actually pronounced more like "bet," and Pec like "bek."

• • •

Thanks again to everyone who has (or is planning to) donate to the memorial fund for Ped's family. Recent news reminded me that this is not the first memorial fund I have promoted on my blog. More than a year and a half ago I encouraged readers to donate to the Seward Market Memorial Fund.

I was reminded of that terrible crime because the trial of accused murderer Mahdi Ali has just gone to jury.  A verdict will bring closure to the families of Osman Elmi, Mohamed Warfa and Anwar Mohammed, the three men killed at Seward Market and Halal Meats. Another man, Ahmed Ali has already pled guilty to three counts of attempted aggravated robbery.

The verdict is in.

Changes

I don't usually announce personnel changes on my blog, but I'm sure you'll all be happy to learn that Ped's nephew Shawn and his nieces, Cindy and Tiffany, are now working at True Thai. Having plenty of Phanthavongs around is a good thing.

True Thai: Lao powered since 2002.

That is kind of a joke. Yes, True Thai has always had Lao employees. And Hmong employees and Cambodian and Burmese employees, as well as some actual Thai, myself included. I know some foodies think that makes us less Thai, but I do not think they understand Southeast Asians very well. Having a Lao cook in a Thai restaurant is like finding out there's a Canadian in the kitchen at Perkins.

As the Buddhist teacher Atisha once said, "Do not be jealous of other's good qualities, but out of admiration adopt them yourself."

Yes, there are differences in how Americans and Southeast Asians run restaurants. In Thailand, hiring a new cook — even under tragic circumstances— means new dishes. In America, most restaurants "break" their cooks in, teaching them their recipes.

In Thailand a restaurant owner wants to see what new dishes the new cook brought with them. The owner and the other cooks sample everything and decide which ones should go on the menu. Sometimes there is spontaneous collaboration and a new cook's dish is modified to better complement what is already on the menu, other times it's a quick thumbs up or thumbs down vote. If you can't decide, you tinker with the recipe until you're happy (or not). You like a dish or you don't. Food can be hard to prepare, but it should never be hard to eat.

We recently updated our menu insert to add two new appetizers: crunchy Mini Sesame Balls and chewy Prawn Puffs. Now we need to update it again to make room for a saucy new seafood entree, True Tilapia, a filet of tilapia served with an irresistable sauce.  We're also adding a change of pace (for us) entree: Grilled Lime Chicken. Chicken, sliced lime, red bell pepper, cilantro and a light, slightly sweet sauce. Served with jasmine white rice. It's not like anything else on our menu, so I think this is a good dish to add.

More new dishes coming soon!

Thank you

Thank you to so very many people. 

Thank you to all of you who have donated to the memorial fund.

Thank you to all of you who sent flowers.

Thank you to all of you who sent cards.

Thank you to all of you who sent emails.

Thank you to everyone who had kind words to say.

Thank you to the police officers from the very busy Third Precinct who stopped in to give us their condolences. 

Thank you to Jim Schwebel and his law firm who have done everything in their power to guide and assist Ped's family during this difficult time. 

As of today, over 10,000 people have read the posts about Ped on this blog, and tens of thousands have read the Star Tribune's reprint of my post and eulogy for Ped. As the truth about that night comes out, the comments being left on news stories have grown increasingly supportive of Ped's family. Negative comments now seem to be focusing on the family's attorneys, but that is OK because Jim Schwebel will not be distracted. After meeting with Jim, I think he is always mindful of this Zen Buddhist teaching:

These reported events are like an arrow shot at my heart, but it lands at my feet. I choose not to bend over, pick it up, and stab myself with it.

Ped was not an angry man. I think he would have been dismayed by all the anger there has been in the wake of his death. I think he would wish to remind us that, as the Dalai Lama has said, "In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher." But he would also remind us that the Dalai Lama also said, "Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace."

The peace Ped's family and friends seek is the same peace that the Senser family seeks. In time, what is hidden will become known for the Buddha has told us that "three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." The truth shall set us all free.

The Buddha also told us that "holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it someone else; you are the one who gets burned." I hope that this post helps to bring peace to those who read it. We will continue to strive for answers and justice, but I pray that there will be peace in our hearts as we do so.

My remembrance of Ped

I submitted a guest op-ed to the Star Tribune last week after reading Gail Rosenblum's column in which she defended the Senser family's legal stonewalling. The Star Tribune never responded to my submission, so I am publishing it here in my blog.

— — —

Anousone "Ped" Phanthavong was a dear friend and valued coworker of mine. We opened our restaurant, True Thai, in 2002, and Ped was the only person still working for us who was on our original staff. The State Troopers woke me at 3:45 a.m. because I was the pre-registered owner of Ped's car. My partner slept through the Troopers knocking on our door, but awoke immediately upon hearing my cries of anguish at hearing that Ped had been killed.

The next day I saw the place where Ped had pulled his car off the ramp and onto the grass. I saw bloodstains from his body being dragged forty feet by the Mercedes SUV that hit him. Later I talked to the partner of one of our hostesses who had taken that exit shortly after Ped was killed. His shoes and pants had been ripped off by the pavement as he was dragged up the ramp, leaving him clad only in his white t-shirt and underwear on the pavement where he was left for dead, only three-quarters of a block from Riverside Hospital's Emergency Room.

Over three-hundred people jammed into the funeral home for Ped's funeral. Everyone wore white, the Buddhist color of mourning. It took four cars to bring all the floral arrangements to the funeral home. All white because that was Ped's favorite color. He always wore white t-shirts. Even on a moonless night it would be difficult not to see Ped on a well lit freeway exit ramp.

The day after Ped died the State Troopers told us he was hit by a Mercedes SUV. They told the news media and shortly after that the Senser family's attorney contacted the State Troopers. It would be another nine agonizing days before the Senser family told the Troopers that Amy Senser was driving that night. That did not stop the rumors.

Since Amy Senser came forward, many people have passed rumors on to me and our employees. A daughter was driving, the rumors say. Are the rumors true? We do not know. All we know is what the Sensers have told the State Troopers, and that is not much. So little that a State Trooper advised Ped's brother that the family should get a high-powered attorney. The Trooper perhaps should not have said that, and he didn't say why the family needed an attorney, but by then it was obvious that the Sensers were not going to send the Phanthavongs so much as a sympathy card, let alone meet with them to discuss what happened that night.

Joe Senser is a sports broadcaster now, and has many friends in the media. Since the accident WCCO's Esme Murphy posted about the accident at her blog. She said that she could not defend a hit and run, but then spent the rest of her post defending the Sensers' right to a fair trial. Almost immediately an anonymous commenter posted Ped's arrest record in the comments. That comment was not removed, and it was a shameful thing for the Phanthavong family to see. Yes, Ped had some run-ins with the law. Many refugees from war-torn countries do. It takes a while for young men to understand that while fighting helped them to stay alive in Laos, you do not need to fight to survive in the United States. Ped ended up spending some time in the Ramsey County workhouse, but we picked him up and took him to work each day. Not just because we liked Ped, but because he was, from his first day at True Thai, our best cook.

After Ped was reunited with his family, he spent every day helping his mother cook, and she taught him well. As True Thai won award after award after award for our dishes, Ped grew more confident in his abilities and cleaned up his life. He had been sober for almost three years but he did not trust himself. Almost his entire paycheck would go to his parents. Ped never carried over $20 cash because he was afraid he would weaken and spend that money on bad things. Ped knew his limitations and still managed to overcome them. Exactly one month before he was struck and killed on that off ramp, U2's tour manager stood in our kitchen and watched Ped cook Bono's pre-concert meal. She was so pleased she referred Sade's tour manager to us. Sade's tour manager told us she would refer all her tour management friends to us. None of these bands ever saw our restaurant, but they ordered from us because of Ped's cooking.

But Ped was not a celebrity. Esme Murphy is not the only Twin Cities media personality to defend the Sensers. The Star Tribune's Gail Rosenblum also wrote about the Sensers. Yes, she mentioned Ped, but like all the other local media she just repeated what I had written about him in my blog. Until they held a press conference two weeks after Ped's death, not one Minnesota news person bothered to interview Ped's family. My day job is as a public health nurse for Ramsey County. If the local news media cannot find Lao-English interpreters, I can refer the media to dozens of them.

But I do not think the local news media cares about Ped's side of the story. Gail Rosenblum's column does not allow people to leave comments. You can leave a comment at Bob Collin's MPR News Cut blog, but if you defend Ped, he will argue with you in the comments.

That is OK. Joe Senser is a media guy, and you stand up for your own. But maybe the media should read my eulogy for Ped that was read at his funeral:

Ped is my brother and my best friend. When I was mugged last summer, Ped was the first person to show up to comfort and reassure me. Ped often stopped by the restaurant on his days off to make sure everything was OK. After my mugging, he would come around to check on me to make sure I was OK. I give some of our employees a ride home after work. After the mugging, Ped began stopping by on his nights off to give his coworkers a ride home so I could get a little more sleep. 

Ped helped me to keep my feet on the ground, and gave me guidance when I wasn't sure what I should do. More than even me, he cared so much about True Thai and all of us who worked there but Ped loved everyone, not just his friends. Once he made me park my car so he could help a stranded motorist change her tire. When a panhandler would ask Ped for money, Ped would tell them to wait and then would run and cook them a meal. 

Each night when I go to True Thai, I go into the kitchen because seeing Ped in his white t-shirt gives me comfort and lets me know everything is running the way it should. I will never see Ped in our kitchen again, but this week I have seen him many times. I will be working up front and I look up and there he is, smiling in that slightly sad, boyish way we all knew so well. His spirit is with us still at True Thai, guiding us, telling us everything is alright. 

Ped, when I think of you, the one thing I always think of is your kindness and generosity, which were written all over your face. Such a kind person. Others always came first. You would feed your coworkers first, then you would eat. You always put others before you. 

Ped once told me, "Anna, I know I am going to die before you do." Ped, I am so sorry you were right. I will remember you the rest of my life. You were the soul of True Thai. You are the soul of True Thai. You will always be the soul of True Thai. Thank you for always being there for us.

Ped's family and friends and I all miss him very much. Only the Senser family knows for sure what happened that night, and they are not talking. Not to us, not to the family's attorney, not to anyone. But they do have friends in the media. At the press conference a reporter asked me something about "why the family is just after the money?" I was so shocked I could not answer him. The Phanthavongs did not "lawyer up" until after a Trooper suggested they should, and well after the Sensers had decided to speak only through their attorney. No one in the media is trying to find out what happened. It has been decided that the lawyers will do all the talking and that this might take years to be resolved.

Well, I am talking. And I will keep talking about this because I miss my friend Ped, and I am angry that the woman who admitted to driving the Mercedes SUV that dragged him forty feet up an off-ramp still has her drivers license, and is still free to go about living her life. The media can feel sorry for her all they like, but some day the Phanthavongs will have their day in court and I will be there every day to see that they receive the justice they deserve. But that day will not come soon. Until then Ped's nephew and two of his nieces will be working at True Thai, bussing tables and waiting on customers so that their grandparents will not be cast out into the street while waiting and waiting and waiting for the trial of the woman who ran over their son.

Anna Prasomphol Fieser is co-owner of True Thai Restaurant where Anousone "Ped" Phanthavong worked as head cook.