It’s located in a spot that’s done in many restaurants, but none of them had Tiff
Mia Stainsby
Sun
Chef/Manager Topnarie (Tiffany) Kulsiriwanich at Charm Modern Thai with Panang Beef (left) and Green Curry Burger. – IAN LINDSAY / VANCOUVER SUN
CHARM MODERN THAI AND BAR
Overall: fffoo
Food: fffoo
Ambience: fffho
Service: fffho
Price: $$
1269 Hamilton St., 604-688-9339.
www.charmmodernthai.com.
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone.
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If you wonder what’s charming about Charm Modern Thai Restaurant, from my perspective, it’s the chef-manager.
Saying her name might turn you blue in the face before you finish — Tipnarie Kulisiriwanich — which is why, as she says, “People call me Tiff.”
Even via phone, I can tell she’s a character, ablaze with a culinary mission. Her circum-journey from Thailand to Japan to Australia to the U.S. and now Canada is part of that.
Even before she was a chef, when she dined out, she’d end up in the kitchen, observing, or, better yet, telling the chef how to do it better. You get the drift .
Three years ago, after running and cooking in Thai restaurants on the strength of her own abilities, she went to the Northwest Culinary Academy in Vancouver and got even more fired up. “I was getting tired of classic Thai and so bored of the same old thing and I wanted to see what I could do.”
Charm Modern, run by a member of the Thai House restaurant family, took over a location that’s chewed up restaurants one by one, the last of which was Flite — and it did (take flight).
I’d say it’s a toss-up for Charm — there are some unique dishes, which Kulisiriwanich hesitates to call fusion because “it seems to have lost its way.”
She calls it modern.
“I like that word better,” she says.
Some of her Thai dishes are tweaked with international punctuations (beef shortribs marinated in Thai spices, duck confit spring rolls) and some are international dishes with Thai insertions (Thai-inflected burgers, tuna tartare, papparadelle and tempura).
Of the dishes I tried, I liked the papparadelle and Penang beef the most.
The latter, even though it was in a curry sauce, had a rich beef bourguignon feel to it.
Green papaya salad is always a nice refreshing dish.
Lemongrass mussels didn’t feature the plumpest of mussels but came in a tasty spiced-up wine broth.
Chicken satay was juicy and mild, not a standout.
Steamed basa (a white fish that seems to be the spawn of sole and cod) looked lovely, laden with veggies, rolled and balanced on end in a broth; the only detraction was the broth which went overboard with lime juice.
Tamarind duck with a sweet chili tamarind reduction needed a bigger hit of duck flavour to meet the tamarind glaze halfway.
The room is designed with a bold hand — black walls, massive gilt-framed mirrors, plush red booths, bamboo pole dividers and Buddha art; sort of Versailles meets bordello meets Zen; in the lounge, the addicted can stay close to the hockey playoffs.
Here’s a case where an open kitchen would be advantageous.
Kulisiriwanich, through the sheer force of personality, would add personality and character.
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