Flying Thai

Diners looking for a Tiny Thai [1] fix in Essex last week may have been surprised to find a different — but still Thai — restaurant in its place. Sukhothai Restaurant [2] opened last Monday. Tiny Thai owners Paul and Pui Ciosek sold their location in the Essex Shoppes and Cinema [3] to Seth and Look-Pla Giffin so they could spend more time together working at their Winooski restaurant.

Seth Giffin, a Culinary Institute of America grad, spent his externship at a top restaurant in Thailand, where he says he frequently served royalty. Thai Royal cuisine is an opulent genre in itself, and Giffin says he hopes to explore it once Sukhothai has found its footing.

For now, pad Thai and curries fill the menu, though the owner says his recipes are quite different from those of Tiny Thai. “In the next month, look for very authentic Thai cuisine — stuff that you don’t see in restaurants around here because the product is very difficult to get,” Giffin says.

Tiny Thai devotees can rely on Sukhothai when their favorite takes a break later this month. Paul Ciosek says that, during the week of January 29, the restaurant will close for kitchen remodeling.

When Tiny Thai reopens, diners will be able to try ultra-authentic menu additions all week long. Closed on Sundays since its inception, the Winooski restaurant will now be a seven-day affair, with no break between lunch and dinner on weekends.

Following the December 31 closure of Bangkok Bistro in downtown Burlington, it looks like Chittenden County is quickly seeing a Thai revival.