My family kind of has a bit of a,

an addictive personality disorder.

Like, my, my brother went through fucking free base

time and my dad was a hard core alcoholic.

I think he's one of the only people I've ever met

who was literally addicted to pot.

You know, we've all had our addictions and

I think that I've become addicted to

various things over my life.

And they tend to not be substances, but pastimes.

[MUSIC]

I got into rock climbing and I kind of

became obsessed with rock climbing for awhile.

That's all I wanted to do for about two years.

I was real into traveling long before that.

So just kind of spent my,

you know, just traveled for like four years.

And then I got really into playing in bands and

I really like dedicated my life to that.

I was really into it.

[MUSIC]

So when the Thai food thing came around,

you know, I really didn't think that

opening Pok Pok was gonna be it.

[MUSIC]

I figured that I'd open Pok Pok and

I could live in the house that,

that the restaurant was in.

And everything would be groovy.

[MUSIC]

I do well enough that I could afford to go and

live in Thailand for

three months of the year and hang out, and

go back and have a, a way of making a living.

Of course, that didn't quite go as planned.

You know, when I finally came up for

air after opening the restaurant three years

later, I think that's kind of where I was like,

yeah, you know,

I think Thai food is what I wanna do forever.

[MUSIC]

>> That's good.

>> Farang means blonde.

Like, English, American, and Australian.

Blond hair we call farang.

Actually, farang interested in cooking,

okay, it's common.

But farang who pay more attention in

Northern Thai food, strange.

Well, because Northern Thai food very spicy.

And, the ingredients totally different with

Middle Thai or Bangkok style.

So, anytime when this is farang like entry,

having very spicy one.

We would say, huh, how come you could eat like

very spicy food, and he laughing.

How come farang could cook not in Thai and with

an authentic, and how come farang long line.

>> I don't think anyone had ever heard of him

before Pok Pok.

I had friends who lived in Portland tell me

about this white guy, has like a little place and

you can get this like, Thai roast chicken.

And I was like

that sounds like some bullshit.

But then I heard more and more about it,

and I'm like oh, this guy seems to

be doing something incredible.

>> Unless you had spent time in Chiang Mai

in Thailand.

Now remember he had been backpacking there for

20 years, he spoke the language.

>> Is it 125 baht?

>> Yes.

>> What he did, and I think,

you know, what was so fascinating, was he

brought a repertoire here that almost no one

had seen unless you were native to Thailand.

>> Here are the bowls for Khanom Jiin.

For this dish,

it is now difficult to find in Thailand.

>> The thing that I find really interesting about,

like, Thai restaurants in the States.

There's so much divide between like,

it's like us and them.

There's so much,

the divide, between the people who are coming to

the restaurant and whoever's cooking.

It might be a sort of an immigrant thing.

I have my food but

I'm gonna cook what I think is palatable.

My family opened up their spot in 1982.

I think something that just happened out of

necessity.

You know, like my

dad was in LA at the time working as a banker.

Like, working off a loan from this bank that put

him through college.

He decided to just open up a place, because there

wasn't something, it was, it was as simple as that.

At one point in this country you know,

having something like pad Thai was new,

it was altered, or adjusted in a way to fit

the sort of audience that was coming.

Is the menu like what we, or

what my family would eat at home or in Thailand?

Not really is the answer.

>> A lot of the Thai immigrants who came here

like 30, 40 years ago and opened restaurants,

they did it for commerce,

you know, not because they were interested in

spreading their culture or anything.

They had to make a living.

If you can take a bunch of these noodles,

a handful of fucking bean sprouts and

a bunch of poached chicken breasts, and

some peanut butter.

>> Right. >> And some ketchup and

make fucking Pad Thai that they buy for

$9 for a giant plate that takes you

like two seconds to make.

Why would you make this?

Like I get it.

What we're making is

a green chili dip called nempriknum.

I mean it looks just like the shit you

get in Chiang Mai.

>> Mm-hm. >> I didn't have to

do anything to it to make it better.

Fucking rotten fish is delicious.

>> It smells so good.

>> A little floral.

Also, a little disgusting.

>> It's delicious.

>> When Pok Pok came along,

it was a huge surprise.

It still is a huge surprise to

a lot of the Thai community.

They asked me why I do what I do.

How can you do that?

And they say, can, can farang eat like that, and

I say, I say,

yes of course they can eat like that.

They say [FOREIGN], but can they eat hot?

Yes, they can.

And I tell them a list of the dishes that we make

and they're like, oh.

>> Yeah this menu is different.

A lot of other Thai

restaurants don't have it.

You know what, Andy's is about the bridge.

To send a message to the American people.

And teach them how to eat it.

>> All the dishes are there.

Like, you go to Pok Pok and

all the dishes are killer.

They taste as

they would taste wherever they're from.

But he has the sensibility of a Thai

person, or the energy, or the sort of palate.

He's able to understand the context of

eating these foods the same way,

you know, a Thai person understands it.

He's a farang, but

he's as Thai as like any of my hick cousins.

>> We're gonna talk about it first, and

then you guys are gonna taste it.

And then you're gonna ask me

questions about the dishes, okay?

You guys that have the calpon go ahead and

start mixing it up and

passing it around and tasting it.

Hun chow or breakfast, morning food.

Thailand, typically at the markets is

where you find the best jok and palpon.

This is a typical morning soup.

It's filling but it doesn't drag you down.