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Maureen Wallenfang
Appleton Post-Crescent
Published 1:02 PM EDT Jun 2, 2020
Opening a restaurant right now is especially difficult with reduced capacity and rigorous cleaning rituals under coronavirus standards.
Imagine adding to that the challenge of training a new staff and getting everything running smoothly in a brand new business.
Thai Ginger Bistro confronts all of that when it opens Wednesday.
The new restaurant is at 1619 W. College Ave. in Appleton, roughly across the street from Aldi.
Owner/chef Boun Luangpraseuth has been trying to open since last July, but pushed the opening date back repeatedly because of trouble finding staff at a time of record low unemployment.
Then he hit another obstacle, the safer-at-home order that shut all restaurants down for two months.
It’s been a long and hard-fought process for the chef who moved from Portland, Oregon to give his young family a better life. He signed his Appleton lease in January 2018.
Luangpraseuth hired an architect to make the white, boxy space into two dining rooms, a bar and open-view kitchen. He didn’t give his dollar investment other than to say it was a “huge amount.”
With the opening near, he seems almost giddy.
“I cannot eat. I cannot sleep. I’m too excited,” he said. “We’ll be able to survive. God will take care of us.”
Penny Fan, his wife, is the bartender. He has now hired most of his kitchen staff and servers.
The restaurant was designed to seat 90, but as they begin to space out tables, he says it will be closer to 30.
“The people who work in the kitchen wear masks and gloves. Servers wear masks and they can’t stand close to the customers. We laminate the menus in plastic so they’re easy to clean,” he said.
See Thai Ginger Bistro’s curry, noodle and stir fry menu on its Facebook page. The kitchen can accommodate vegan, gluten-free and sugar-free diets because “everything is made to order,” he said.
Info: Open 11 a.m to 9 p.m. every day except Sunday. 920-840-6309. Offers carry-out, but no delivery.
Contact reporter Maureen Wallenfang at 920-993-7116 or mwallenfang@postcrescent.com. Follow her on Twitter at @wallenfang.
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