Why Night + Market’s Kris Yenbamroong Wishes His Restaurants Weren’t Known as Thai

Why is there a food episode coming out of the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES)? Well, why not? This week on The Eater Upsell, Dan is joined by Eater’s travel editor, Lesley Suter, at the Google Assistant activation space to talk to Kris Yenbamroong — the chef and owner of the Night + Market restaurants in Los Angeles which include Night + Market in West Hollywood, Night + Market Song, and Night + Market Sahm.

The perpetual hotspot — an essential LA restaurant — is lauded for excellent Thai dishes like pork toro and Bangkok mall pasta plus a fun, convivial atmosphere. Now, eight years since first opening Night + Market, Yenbamroong says he almost wishes his restaurants weren’t known as Thai places anymore. “People come into the restaurant and judge things based on how closely they resemble this other thing 50,000 miles away,” he says. “Which to me is just not really the point.” Listen to the full episode below.

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