Openings: MayRee on 1st Street

MayRee has debuted at 58 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (First mentioned here.) 

The restaurant serves Southern Thai food from chef/owner Orawan Sawangphol and cocktails from industry veteran Sek Saraboon (formerly of The Met Bar in Bangkok and The Dominick Hotel in Soho). 

Here's more about MayRee via a rep:

Born and raised in Phang Nga, a small province in southern Thailand (about an hour from Phuket), Sawangphol started working in her family's restaurant at age 13, learning about techniques and spices as well as recipes from her great grandmother, eventually becoming the restaurant's chef. 

After studying hospitality, she moved to the U.S. She worked in California, Ohio, and Illinois before moving to NYC to open MayRee, her own restaurant, showcasing the Southern Thai dishes she grew up with. 

Sawangphol uses a bounty of Thai herbs and unique ingredients like garcinia cambogia (a tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia, aka Malabar tamarind), along with turmeric, coconut, chilies, and more. 

You can find a menu here. And some Instagram pics here. 

And if you are curious about the name...

The restaurant's name comes from a Thai folklore story called the Twelve Sisters — MayRee is one of the sisters. Despite the misfortunes that befall her in the story, she still manages to keep a cheerful disposition and, as a result in Thai culture, she symbolizes celebration and social gathering.

MayRee is open for lunch during the week from noon to 4 p.m., with dinner 5-11 p.m. (11:30 p.m. close on Friday and Saturday). There's a weekend brunch starting at 11 a.m. Phone: (929) 989-6213.

Previously

MayRee to bring Thai food to 1st Street

A Thai restaurant called MayRee is in the works for 58 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

The principals will appear before CB3's SLA committee for a new liquor license for the space this month ...

The owner runs a similar establishment in Illinois. According to the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website, food comes first here: 

The premises are a restaurant where the main emphasis is on food, not liquor. The restaurant will NOT have late hours. It will close by 11 PM, five nights a week. On Friday and Saturday, it will close at 11:30 PM so we do not anticipate customers will be coming to the restaurant for the purpose of drinking. 

The premises are a small family-style Thai restaurant with only 25 seats, including the small, 7-seat bar area. There will be no televisions so it will clearly be a place where customers are coming for the food, not to watch sporting events or listen to music.

This CB3 virtual committee meeting is Monday, June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Find the Zoom link here.

As previously noted, many restaurants have come and gone here since The Elephant, a Thai restaurant, closed in 2011 after 17 years in business. Maybe people have been waiting for more Thai here.   

Openings: Km1 brings Caribbean cuisine to 1st Street

Km1, short for Kilometro Uno, recently debuted on First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue... focusing on "food from the Greater Antilles islands, with comforting dishes like mofongo, yucca fries, and shrimp served out of a half-pineapple on deck," per Eater.

And The Infatuation recently had a preview:

In addition to burgers, ceviche, and honey-glazed jerk wings, the menu has a bunch of Dominican dishes like a vegan pastelon layered with mushrooms and coconut sauce, and some extremely crispy mofongo with skirt steak and a light tomato broth.

And no liquor license at the moment...



Km1 is at 58 E. First St. Open daily 5-11 p.m. Phone: (646) 669-7547.

This address has seen several quality restaurants come and go in recent years. Esperanto Fonda lasted nine months here, closing in May 2017. Before that, this was home to BARA for two years and Prima for three years. The Elephant, a Thai restaurant, was previously here for 17 years.