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Restaurants / Openings

Hot New Houston Restaurant Brings Authentic Thai Food to The Heights’ Buzziest New Development

Get Ready for Kin Dee and Its Women Founders' Bold Vision

BY // 10.29.19

Green curry fans, rejoice. A new Thai restaurant is headed to The Heights, promising truly authentic eats in contemporary, tropical-meets-traditional digs.

Kin Dee will open in buzzy, upcoming mixed-use development Market at Houston Heights on North Shepherd.

The new restaurant is powered by Lukkaew Srasrisuwan and chef Miranda Leotkhamfu, who are determined to bring a loving slice of their native Thailand to Houston.

“We’re passionate about telling the story of how cooking is so important and influences how we live in Thailand, how we spend so much time preparing every single ingredient and putting them together in the right way,” Srasrisuwan tells PaperCity.

“It’s not just about eating, we want to explain all the culture to everyone who visits our restaurant.”

The name Kin Dee encompasses Leotkhamfu’s sincere cooking philosophy. Loosely translated, it’s Thai for leading a good life and eating good food.

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Kin Dee’s cuisine will be made of only the finest, freshest ingredients. While some other Thai restaurants in Houston rely on pre-made chili pastes and other prepped ingredients, this new Heights restaurant will source raw ingredients directly from the market and prepare them in-house, Srasrisuwan notes.

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Chef Miranda Leotkhamfu and Lukkaew Srasrisuwan believe in authentic dishes only.

Diners can delight in cold noodle dishes, red curry from the north side of Thailand and special green curry served with rice noodles instead of the traditional rice in the tradition of southern Thailand.

Their hope is Kin Dee replicates the cultural and culinary values of Thailand. A large part of that is sharing the attention to detail used in cooking in Thailand. Many of the ingredients, such as galangal and other herbs, promote health.

“We’re actually going to get servers to explain to customers how the ingredients of every single dish impact health,” Leotkhamfu says.

You simply can’t get some of those benefits by using shortcuts with premade powders and pastes, she adds.

While Kin Dee’s menu will be bursting with traditional dishes, the atmosphere will skew more modern, with clean lines and Thai touches like extensive greenery.

The 2,500-square-foot Houston restaurant will seat 77 indoors, and have a cozy 20-seat front patio and a more expansive 30-seat back patio.

The business partners chose The Heights for its microcosm of Houston diversity and population of eaters eager to step outside their comfort zones.

“People here like to try new things and appreciate something that is quite unique. It’s a great area for us to start our new concept,” Leotkhamfu says.

Kin Dee will be open for lunch, dinner and brunch on weekends. Its two women creators envision a place where you don’t just come in, grab a meal and go. Extended hours will mean special events on Friday and Saturday nights, with live DJ appearances or small live music acts.

Diners who want to sip on a boozy beverage while taking in the music will have their pick of specialty cocktails crafted with Thai herbs.

Live well and eat good food in The Heights. Who can argue with that?

Kin Dee is aiming for a spring 2020 opening.

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