May Kaidee

May Kaidee Is a Vegan Thai Restaurant That Started as a Bangkok Street Cart | Eater NY

"Tucked away in a Lower East Side basement with a karaoke machine in the back, the New York outpost of May Kaidee (215 E. Broadway at Clinton Street) — the owner’s first U.S. restaurant, opened in 2016 and moved to a larger space in 2018 — serves coral-hued clumps of pumpkin hummus woven with coconut milk, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and turmeric, along with specials like “tuna” salads made from soy protein accompanied by lettuce, Thai herbs, sticky rice, and cucumbers. Sommay Jaijong (who goes by May Kaidee) caparisons herself in Isan village wear and a plum-purple flower in her hair and uses the restaurant as a vehicle for spreading the beauty of her homeland, offering regular cooking classes, fruit-carving classes, and dance classes; notably, the New York location remained open for delivery while several Southeast Asia sites closed during the pandemic." - Mayukh Sen