Rosa's owner to launch permanent home for Lao Café
The team behind restaurant group Rosa's Thai Café are to open a Laotian-inspired restaurant in London's Covent Garden on 16 January.
Lao Café is the personal project of Saiphin Moore, the head chef and co-founder of Rosa's Thai Café.
With room for 55 covers across two floors, the menu will offer sharing plates of salad, curry and chargrilled meats. Dishes will be served with sticky rice, a staple of authentic Laotian cuisine.
Inspired by the home cooked dishes of her childhood, the restaurant follows the success of her Rosa's restaurant chain. Prior to the launch of Rosa's Thai Café on Gillingham Street in London's Victoria, Lao Café operated as a pop-up in the same space in 2015.
The new site at 60 Chandos Place used to be home to Chandos Sandwich Bar.
Lao Café claims to be the only restaurant in London to serve Laotian food. Born in Thailand to native Lao parents, Moore was keen to introduce her traditional family recipes to London.
Moore said: "Although my family migrated to Thailand from Laos, they did not abandon the traditional food and cooking methods.
Open from midday for lunch and dinner, seven days a week, the restaurant will showcase art from Moore's personal collection. It will also have a modern mural by graffiti artist Mr Cenz, inspired by photography of Luang Prabang.
Rosa's Thai Café restaurant group was started by Moore and her husband as a market stall on Brick Lane in 2006. The group now has seven permanent London sites, Spitalfields, Soho, Westfield Stratford, Carnaby, Chelsea, Angel and Victoria.
Lao Café to open permanent London site >>
Minute on the clock: Saiphin Moore >>
Rosa's Thai Cafe to expand after £1.8m funding boost >>
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