I’ve found that going to Thai Kitchen is a vital part of my spiritual rejuvenation.
It’s Saturday night. Just yesterday I was almost spiritually dead, having survived another week at the office. In order to recover, I’ve spent most of my day (what was left of it after I slept in until noon-thirty) perusing guitar stores on South Lamar, playing Frisbee at the park, and listening to records. There’s a show to go to later at some club, and in the meantime I crave sustenance. It’s 9:30pm, and my body and mind are tired (in a good way) but I’m not giving up on the day. There’s a damn rock show to go to! And I pay the high rent in this town to have the ability to go to it!
It’s at times like these that the tasty cuisine at Thai Kitchen will cure what ails me and give me the energy I need to keep on keepin’ on. So I hit pause on the Beatles record playing on my iTunes (Revolver, mono mix for you audiophiles) and get up from my couch and into my Ford Ranger to make my sojourn.
I take the back roads to avoid red lights and bad drivers, both things that piss me off and waste my time. Did you ever see L.A. Story with Steve Martin where he has that crazy route to work? That’s what I feel like as I make the exact opposite of a beeline to the restaurant’s location on Guadalupe. But it’s a route I have down to the T, and I could drive it in my sleep – if I slept with my eyes open and retained full, coordinated use of my faculties. As I speed by, I wave to the homeless guy who is sitting on the corner where he always sits, his crusty beard longer than last time. His dirty, cracked hands look 20 years older than the rest of him and are clasped together and resting on his lap. He looks like he’s waiting to tell the next person who will talk to him the secret of the universe. But I already know it: It’s coconut and lemongrass soup at Thai Kitchen, and I’ll be having some shortly.
Parking at Thai Kitchen can be tricky. Their parking lot is narrow and the spaces are tiny. More often than not there will be a college student in an SUV trying to pull off a 27-point turn in an often-fruitless attempt to fit into a parking spot. I have mentally prepared myself for such a scenario and successfully avoid getting mad waiting for them. I know the food is worth it. I also know – I’ve been here so often – that if all of the parking spots are full I can park parallel to the north side of the building where no spots are marked. I do just that and walk into the restaurant.
I sit down, order hot jasmine tea and a spring roll (awesome sauce, by the way), and am handed a menu that I don’t need. The waiter returns with my tea and I order my favorite: the coconut and lemongrass soup with tofu (they offer a version with meat, too). I can’t say enough about how good it is. Served with a side of rice, the soup is full of more spices than you can name. Ginger, lemongrass, Thai pepper, etc. And plenty of vegetables, too: carrot, broccoli, onion, cabbage, etc. When my meal finally arrives, I have whetted my appetite with the spring roll and am ready. And, my friends, it is awesome. I can’t eat all of it (they give you a lot!), so I ask for a to-go box.
The great thing about the food at Thai Kitchen is that I don’t feel weighed down afterwards. I feel refreshed and good about myself for having managed to avoid – in the illogical state of extreme hunger – going out for another greasy burrito. I am whole again, and those Monday morning TPS reports are far from my mind. The tea and the spices have given me the energy to stay up late rocking out. And really, isn’t that what we all need in order to make it in this crazy world?
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