Lao Café pop-up, from Rosa’s Thai Café, to launch permanent site

By Hannah Thompson

- Last updated on GMT

Lao Café pop-up, from Rosa’s Thai Café, to launch permanent site

Related tags Thai café

Lao Café, the pop-up concept from Saiphin Moore and the team behind Rosa’s Thai Café, is to launch a permanent London site this winter.

The 60-cover, two-storey 60 Chandos Place location – near Covent Garden – is to open later this year, and will serve dishes that appeared at the 2015 pop-up, as well as further Lao plates, inspired by Moore’s childhood as a Laos-origin family living in Thailand’s Phetchabun Province.

These will include traditional salads, curries, and chargrilled dishes.

The restaurant’s design will be created with London-based hospitality agency Rebel Hospitality, and will seek to combine the feel of the contemporary city with authentic, traditional Lao and Thai touches – including furniture, fittings, and artwork collected by Moore herself.

The main design centrepiece is to be a mural based on a family photo from Moore’s childhood, as interpreted by London-based graffiti artist Mr. Cenz.

Commenting on the opening, Moore said: “Although my family migrated to Thailand from Laos, they did not abandon the traditional food and cooking methods,” says Saiphin. “These recipes have been in my family as long as I can remember. This restaurant will celebrate my love for Laotian cuisine with every dish reflecting a specific memory from growing up in the countryside - from cooking meat over a charcoal grill to mixing salads with a wooden pestle and mortar.”

Edward Francis, co-founder of Rebel Hospitality, said of the interior design: “This project is all about the menu…and the subtle nature of the scheme will ensure that the bright, bold, vibrant food is the centre of attention and star of the show.”

Rosa’s Thai Café was first launched by Moore and her husband Alex, as a market stall in Brick Lane in 2006, before becoming a permanent group. It now runs to seven sites (eight with Lao), but Lao will be its first opening outside of the Rosa’s Thai Café brand.  

Lao Café first opened as a pop-up concept in 2015. 

Related news

Show more

Follow us

Hospitality Guides

View more

Generation Next