Photos and interview by Stacie Joy
Getting Pimnapa “Lek” Sunthatkolkarn, chef/owner of Lui’s Thai Food, 128 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, to sit still for a minute for our interview is no easy task.
I stopped by the small restaurant during a break in service, which happens every day from 4 to 5 p.m. Although she confesses to being tired, she’s in almost constant motion, a 62-year-old one-woman powerhouse.
She first addresses a common misconception with me — that she must be the eponymous Lui.
But no, lui in Thailand means, roughly, “go for it!” Still, enough people call her Lui that she good-naturedly answers to it along with Lek, her actual nickname.
Lek used to own Holy Basil, a much-loved, now-shuttered Thai spot on Second Avenue near Ninth Street. She opened Lui's in late 2013.
An East Village resident (she’s lived on 11th Street for more than 30 years), Lek says having a restaurant here is hard work and wonders aloud if the East Village has changed, speculates how it might have changed, and worries about keeping the restaurant busy enough going forward.
She mentions how many people, her long-term customers, are leaving NYC now. When I ask her if she’ll be staying, she tells me she has five years left on her 10-year lease.
[Kris the waiter]
When she first opened Lui’s Thai, she had only nine items on the menu. And she didn't offer pad thai.
She laughs and tells me that “you must have pad thai or you die.”
She’s changed the menu since opening day. Today, she not only has the mandatory noodle dish but also traditional curries and some locally sourced small-batch specials. Some of those plates get playful names like Ooh la la Salmon Belly or Grilled Squid with Spicy Sexy Sauce.
If something doesn't sell, then she takes it off the menu. Current best-selling dishes are the crispy duck and the garlic chicken.
Lek would like customers to try new things and expand their palate but doesn’t want to tell them what (or what not) to eat. She wishes she could instruct them “don’t eat only pad thai, try the drunken salmon noodles.” Her favorite item on the menu is the Thai eggplant with soft tofu, a recipe from her grandmother.
[Crispy duck with garlic chives and basil]
[Tofu and vegetables soup with ho choy, watercress, tomatoes and spicy broth]
[Crispy calamari and shrimp w/garlic chives and green beans in spicy sauce]
[Beef drunken noodles with chilis, Chinese broccoli and basil]
There’s no alcohol at Lui's, though you can bring in your own bottle of wine (without a corkage fee). When I ask her why she doesn’t want a beer/wine license, she laughs again and tells me that people linger too long at a place serving alcohol. You need high turnover in a space this small or a business can’t survive.
Despite her worries about the business, Lek has a cheerful disposition and laughs a lot. As I am leaving she tells me, “Eat, then dance. Have fun!”
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Lek is old-fashioned and doesn’t do social media. Restaurant hours include a lunch service from noon until 4 p.m., then dinner from 5 to 10:30 p.m. No reservations.
H/T to Kathleen McMillan for helping facilitate this interview.
