Kiin Essentially Thai opens downtown

The new trend of whisper-soft restaurant openings continues with Kiin Essentially Thai (550 N. 7^th), which quietly opened last week. The 52-seat restaurant is the second venture for Phatcharin Wanna, whose popular University City eatery Fork & Stix put Northern Thai cuisine on the map in St. Louis. Unlike its shy sister, which sits on a dead-end street, Kiin is located on one of downtown’s buzziest blocks, at the MX building.

Wanna and co-owner Kobe Tanya transformed the space into a contemporary eatery, paying attention to every detail, from a dragon silhouette on the windows to small vases of chrysanthemums. A complex stick sculpture dotted with light animates and lowers the high ceiling. The sculpture’s thin wands cast shadows that create a Zen-like frame around a mural of baskets above a banquette. The space enchants, whether for a workday lunch or a date-night dinner, though it’s just a bit player to the food.

The menu is nearly divided into Bites, Soups, Eats, and Sides. It includes such popular Fork & Stix dishes as Khao Soi curried noodle soup, Sai Oua sausages, and Naam Prik Nuum roasted chili relish.

There are also new offerings, sure to become favorites. The Khao Mun Gai entrée (pictured above), a Northern Thai take on a Hainanese chicken rice dish that’s popular in Singapore, includes poached chicken, white rice cooked in broth, a sprightly sauce with fresh ginger and Thai chilies, and a side of chicken soup.

Wanna and Tanya added a new entree which is available for both lunch and dinner, Khao Mun Gai (pictured above), the popular Hainanese chicken rice street dish that is popular in Singapore and all throughout Thailand. Kiin adds Thai tastes to the dish that include chicken and white rice cooked in broth, a sprightly sauce with fresh ginger, lime, and Thai chilies, plus a small side of chicken soup.

“We make the chicken Thai-style, adding aromatics like ginger and lime,” says Wanna, who suggests squeezing the lime wedge into the dipping sauce and spreading it over the chicken, as well as adding a spoonful of soup as needed and a nibble of cucumber to cool things down.

Then there are four new shared bites, available exclusively on the dinner menu—“dishes I remember from my childhood,” says Wanna. Pork shoulder is marinated with coriander seeds and black pepper to create Muu Tod (pictured above), a popular street food that Wanna recalls eating for breakfast as a child; the dish arrives on a banana leaf with a side of chili-lime sauce.

Chicken Cracklings (pictured above left) are like a second cousin twice removed to pork rinds; the bite-sized crispy chicken skins are served with a slightly spicy chili lime dipping sauce. The dish simply labeled Pickles (pictured above right) packs a bit of heat, with house marinated Chinese mustard greens pickled with galangal, lemongrass, and chilies.

Cool things down with Yum Sum-O (pictured above), featuring pomelo mixed with peanuts, toasted coconut, crispy shallots, and fish sauce. “We only have it winter through early spring, when pomelos are available,” says Wanna. The tang and sweetness of citrus and coconut contrasted with the fish sauce works well with the cracklings, pork, and pickles.

A full-service bar includes three beers on tap, providing the proper beverages to enjoy with the small plates. “I remember my father sipping his whisky,” Wanna recalls, “and eating these dishes.”