Table Talk: New Chamblee Restaurant Serving Cambodian Dishes!
June 17 — Happy Tuesday and welcome to the table!
ICYMI, here’s my story on the James Beard Awards, which took place last night in Chicago. While Aria did not win a medal for Outstanding Hospitality (it went to Atomix in NYC), the nomination serves as a fitting tribute to founder Chef Gerry Klaskala upon his retirement from the restaurant industry and his commitment to maintaining such a high level of service at Aria for the last 25 years.
🇰🇭 In today’s “Family Meal,” I bring you a sneak peek at my exclusive story on a new restaurant from the owners of Lao street food spot Snackboxe Bistro. Opening in the Wild Ginger space in Chamblee, Naga Bistro will combine the flavors and dishes of Thai, Lao, and Khmer (Cambodian) cuisine. I spoke with co-owner and chef Thip Athakhanh about the vision behind Naga Bistro and what people can expect when it opens this fall.
For “The Move,” I’ll tell you where to find a super-fresh summertime pesto spaghetti with crispy string beans in Sandy Springs. And with summer beginning Friday, Reynoldstown restaurant Wylie & Rum shares a recipe for its popular mojo chicken skewers with tropical pico de gallo, which can be broiled in your oven or cooked outside on the grill.
Cheers!
🍸 Beth
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The Move:
Summertime Pesto Pasta at Nonna Dora
💚 To me, pesto is the underrated hero of Italian sauces. It’s fresh, bright, and herbaceous, and the perfect springtime or summertime sauce to toss in your favorite pasta, especially if you incorporate seasonal vegetables like greens, beans, peas, or tomatoes.
Originating from the Genoa region along the northwest coast of Italy, the traditional ingredient base for pesto includes basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, and a tangy hard cheese such as Parmesan. Unlike vodka sauce or carbonara, the texture of pesto tends to be unevenly blended, giving it a chunkier, more paste-like consistency rather than smooth and creamy. Over-blending can make pesto taste bitter, leading to the sauce losing its signature fresh, herbaceous flavor profile. It’s why a mortar and pestle is the preferred mixing implement over a food processor or blender when making pesto.
👵 Located on Hammond Drive in the Publix shopping center, Nonna Dora (Grandma Dora) has its savory Pesto alla Genovese on lock. The petite, family-owned Italian restaurant took over the space formerly occupied by Buon Fornello Cafe, another super low-key Italian restaurant once popular at the complex. Slightly al dente spaghetti comes tossed in pesto speckled with ground pine nuts and basil leaves, given a bit of crunch from crispy string beans. Nonna Dora opts for Grana Padano rather than Parmesan, a crumbly cheese with a robust bite, buttery texture, and nutty flavor.
For $17, this pesto pasta easily feeds two people. We also added a Diavola pinsa (oblong-shaped Roman flatbread) topped with mozzarella and spicy salami for $16. Paired with a full-bodied rosé or chillable summer red, this pesto is a chef’s kiss.
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Naga Bistro Opening in Chamblee for a Fusion of Lao, Thai, Khmer (Cambodian) Dishes
Bistro
🇱🇦🇹🇭🇰🇭 The owners behind Lao restaurant Snackboxe Bistro in Duluth will open Naga Bistro this fall in Chamblee. Taking over the Wild Ginger Thai Cuisine space on Savoy Drive, Naga Bistro will include a full bar and serve a combination of traditional and fusion Lao, Thai, and Khmer (Cambodian) dishes.
Co-owner and chef Thip Athakhanh has been looking for a space to open Naga Bistro for several months. She and her husband and business partner, Vanh Sengaphone, wanted to be closer to Atlanta with their next restaurant. So when her brother, the owner of Wild Ginger, called to say he was retiring in July and offered his restaurant space to the couple, Athakhanh didn’t hesitate.
A naga is a mythical serpent found in Buddhist art and folklore within many Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia, Thailand, and Athakhanh’s native Laos. The restaurant’s logo features a three-headed naga to represent each country. But the symbolism behind the name and logo goes deeper than that for the couple.
🐉 “My husband and I were both born on a Saturday. There are different Buddha positions for each day a person is born. For people born on Saturday, that position is basically a monk or Buddha, and protecting him is a naga,” said Athakhanh. “We’re taking a leap of faith with Naga Bistro.”
Cambodia shares its borders with Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. And while the countries share similar dishes, each country’s cuisine can be distinguished by specific ingredients, preparation techniques, and cooking methods.
🍜 Khmer (kuh-mai) food, Athakhanh said, will be at the heart of Naga Bistro, seen in dishes like prahok ktis (savory minced pork dip) and kathiew (Cambodian beef noodle soup with a pork bone broth), and through fermentation processes and ingredients like kroeung, a lemongrass-based paste made from magrut lime, turmeric, galangal, and garlic used for stir-fries and soups.
Like the waves of Vietnamese refugees who fled genocide and war in the 1970s, tens of thousands of Cambodians also sought refuge in the United States during the mid-1970s and 1980s from genocide by the communist Khmer Rouge regime. It’s estimated that more than 150,000 Cambodian people settled in the United States from 1975 to 1990. Today, there are more than 270,000 people of Cambodian descent living in the US, with close to 10,000 people living in Georgia, centered around Gwinnett County.
🧑🍳 As with Lao and Filipino food in recent years, Cambodian cuisine has found champions in younger generations of chefs, including in Philadelphia, home to celebrated Cambodian restaurant Mawn. Its owner, Phila (pee-la) Lorn, took home a James Beard Award this year for Emerging Chef. Born in Philadelphia and named for the city, Lorn is a first-generation Cambodian-American, after his parents fled Cambodia in 1985.
“I’m excited to share the Cambodian food that I grew up eating in my friend’s house, and share that along with my love for Lao and Thai food with people at this restaurant,” Athakhanh said. “It’s a very different menu that you’re not going to get anywhere else in Atlanta.”
She expects to serve a variety of Cambodian meat and noodle stir-fries incorporating the country’s signature kroeung lemongrass paste.
Other than a few dishes popular in Duluth, like the khao piek sen (chicken tapioca noodle soup), some Lao dishes served at Naga Bistro will not be offered at Snackboxe Bistro, Athakhanh said.
Exclusive dishes to Chamblee will include Naga Bistro’s version of Pad Thai, called Pad Thai-Lao, which marries the sweet and savory flavors of Laos with the tamarind citrus flavors of Thailand. Look for the prahok ktis pork dip served with a medley of fresh vegetables and a grilled steak entree to come accompanied by both prahok dipping sauce and jeow som (Lao sour dipping sauce).
👉 Read the rest of my exclusive interview with Thip Athakhanh on Rough Draft Atlanta tomorrow morning.
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Mojo Chicken Skewers and Tropical Pico de Gallo
Recipe from Wylie & Rum
By Sarra Sedghi
🍢 This week, we’re sharing Wylie & Rum’s recipe for mojo chicken skewers with a tropical pico de gallo. The dish is inspired by Caribbean flavors and ingredients, with strong Cuban and Puerto Rican influences. You can cook these mojo chicken skewers in the oven or outside on the grill. It’s up to you.
You may have already encountered a variation on the skewers during one of summer patio pop-ups at Wylie & Rum or special events like Caribbean Fest.
“It’s a guest favorite because it’s light, flavorful, and pairs well with our rum-forward cocktails,” said Wylie & Rum general manager Marcus Merritt. The Reynoldstown restaurant is currently looking for a way to incorporate the skewers into the seasonal menu.
🍍 The citrusy marinade riffs on mojo sauce, a foundational Caribbean sauce for dishes. Typically, mojo sauce includes minced garlic, cumin, oregano, a neutral oil, and juices from lime, orange, and sour orange (aka bitter orange or naranja agria), another popular Caribbean ingredient. Adding a tropical pico de gallo that contains mango or pineapple gives the entire dish the Caribbean trifecta of savory, sweet, and tangy notes.
Merritt recommends using boneless chicken thighs, which will absorb more marinade and yield juicier meat. Fresh citrus is tantamount to this recipe. Bottled fruit juice will alter the marinade’s flavor, so opt for fresh-squeezed juice when possible. If you aren’t able to find mango or pineapple, diced papaya or even kiwi make suitable substitutes.
👉 While most supermarkets carry the necessary ingredients to create these chicken skewers at home, international markets offer a wider selection of Caribbean spices and tropical produce, often at better prices.
🍽️ Serves 4 to 6 people
Chicken skewers ingredients
- 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1.5-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
- 2 tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Optional: wooden skewers (soaked in water if grilling)
Pico de gallo ingredients
- 1 cup diced pineapple or mango
- 1/2 cup diced tomato
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt to taste
Directions
- Marinate the chicken: In a bowl, whisk together citrus juice, lime juice, garlic, olive oil, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper. Add chicken, toss to coat, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. For more flavor, marinate for up to 4 hours.
- Make the tropical pico: Combine all pico ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Cook the skewers: Grill, pan-sear, or broil in the oven for 10–12 minutes, turning occasionally, until fully cooked and slightly charred.
- Plate skewers with a generous spoonful of tropical pico on top or on the side.
- Serve with rice, plantains, or a light salad.
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