For examples of culinary thinking at work, though, one could simply study the spicy-salad or yum selections. Yum asparagus is an adaptation of a traditional dish made with wing beans. The crisply cooked stems provide an herbaceous base and a textural contrast for a topping of shredded chicken, onion, garlic, peanut, and shredded roast coconut. In another salad, shrimp and batons of eggplant are grilled and splashed with a lime dressing that lifts the char tastes from the bass register and draws them toward the treble. The section of noodle soups offers a lesson on the widths and varieties of rice noodles and the subtle distinctions between egg and mung bean styles.
Desserts go far beyond coconut ice cream.
It's not that Vattanatham expects the mansion dwellers of Pasadena's magnolia-lined streets to don the habits of fishwives on the Mekong. The stakes are clear. Vattanatham has forgone the popularized version of Thai cuisine to promote a more nuanced and original one. It is an effort shared by her staff. On a recent morning I enjoyed one of those deeply satisfying breakfast soups and a cup of hot, sweet ginger tea and had the dining room almost to myself.