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Upper King’s culinary corner restaurateur Henry Eang opens new restaurant next door to first venture
By Matthew French
Staff Writer
Henry Eang has gone into competition with himself. The owner of Basil, the usually crowded Thai restaurant at the corner of King and Ann streets, Eang has launched into a new culinary venture with the recent opening of Chai’s Lounge and Tapas, located right next door to Basil.
Opening a new restaurant right next to an existing successful establishment can be a risky venture, but Eang says he thinks the two will operate more in synergy than competition with each other.
“Chai’s is a totally different concept,” he says. “We want to make sure it’s not even similar to Basil.”
Chai’s has been almost a year in the making. Eang bought the lease to the property at 462 King St., formerly the Portside Café, in April, and has spent the past nine months getting the necessary licensing and permitting to open.
“(Chai’s) is a place to hang out, have nice atmosphere, a nice glass of wine or single malt scotch or a cappuccino. People can go to dinner next door and come here after. I’m planning on bringing in a piano and some live music,” says Eang.
Overflow from Basil is a common sight on upper King Street, as groups of diners huddle around the door or indulge in a drink at one of the nearby bars while waiting for a table. Eang says he thinks Chai’s will be a nice complement to Basil’s dining scene, giving customers a comfortable place to wait for a table next door or enjoy a drink after dinner.
“We used the term ‘tapas’ to refer loosely to small-plate fare, tapas-style,” Eang says. “It’s going to be about 40 percent Asian fusion and the rest will draw from Spanish, American and really all over the place.”
The original idea was to open a lounge and have very light fare for people awaiting tables, but as the menu evolved, Eang determined that Chai’s could operate entirely separately from Basil.
“Upper King is definitely an up and coming area, and I really haven’t thought much about where Chai’s fits in with the revitalization,” he says, referring to Mayor Joseph Riley’s push at attracting more high-end businesses to the region. “But this is a thriving area and I’d like to think that we make good neighbors.”
Chai’s had its grand opening on Jan. 30 in a muted affair, with no prior promotion, and still managed to do fairly brisk business for a Sunday evening, Eang says. He intentionally didn’t have a media blitz or advertising campaign because he wanted his customers to get an accurate first impression of what Chai’s will be, rather than a hyped one-time event.
But there was plenty of preparation that went into the restaurant before the opening.
“We had a rehearsal on Saturday night before the opening where we did a fundraising for the tsunami victims in Asia, and shop owners and businesses from the area donated services and goods,” he says.
“I think my brother, Chai, invited a few too many people. Saturday night was crazy in the kitchen, but perfect out here. After that, Sunday night was a piece of cake.”
Matthew French is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at mfrench@crbj.com.
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