Kiin Laow Now!
After almost a year of complicated electrical issues and permitting and build-out delays, Kiin Laow Thai Restaurant and Bar has opened in Glover Park. Kiin Laow, at 2340 Wisconsin Avenue, is the Thai sister restaurant to Sampanee in Dupont Circle. Kesorn Aswalap owns and runs both restaurants.
Kesorn attended culinary school at the Grand Palace in Thailand and ran a cooking school in Bangkok before coming to the USA. She will be running the show with her two daughters. The Asian-fusion menu will be broader than the Thai-focused selection at Sampanee. The current soft-open menu lists appetizers such as: shrimp cocktail, Thai sausage and chive dumplings; and main dishes such as curry short rib, branzino on panang curry and cauliflower steak. Soups, salads and skewers a-la-carte round out the current menu. The large and inviting bar area will be a focal point for their pan-Asian cocktail creations.
Currently, only the main dining room and bar are available, though the additional space is vast - 5800 square feet of indoor space to utilize, which sat vacant for 4 years after Social Beast closed. There is a secondary dining area with bar, a side dining room and a large enclosed outdoor patio. These areas are “under evaluation” on how they will be utilized in the near future.
Kiin Laow is difficult to translate literally, but it is a phrase used in Thailand when people are going out for an evening and someone asks, “What do you want to do next?” A common response is “kiin laow” loosely translating to “let’s eat and drink,” with “kiin” referring to eating and “laow” referring to liquor.
Kiin Laow follows a long list of closed businesses at 2340 Wisconin Avenue over the past couple of decades: Busara (Thai), Blue Ridge (American), Town Hall (American), Ghostline (food hall concept), and Social Beast (food hall concept). The theme of the challenges for all these businesses was utilizing the vast space with limited “butts in the seats” which declined over time, especially during and after Covid. Neighbors have celebrated the opening of Kiin Laow on social media, but they will sustain their business long-term only if people patronize consistently. Take-out alone doesn’t cut it in these high rent spaces, so come out and support them!
Comments