My-Thai is Your Thai – have you checked out Paris’ newest eatery?

By Carolina Saenz

Thai food lovers can now rejoice with the arrival of the new My-Thai restaurant. The freshly opened Paris branch, located at 1070 Rest Acres Rd, is the fourth location for this successful franchise Vanh Kalong, founder and principal of the My-Thai Brand, shares her story and reasoning behind choosing Paris as their new home

A Thai refugee, Kalong recalls her arrival to Canada and her search for freedom and financial security back in the year 2000. “The Downtown of Hamilton is what I knew. This is where I landed and this is where I believed I should grow,” she writes. Determined to find success, she purchased an existing restaurant with the help of private lenders

On July 6th, 2001, the first My-Thai location opened its doors on John Street. Kalong worked hard alongside her brother Johnny and their culturallydiverse-staff, learning along the way as well as educating themselves and others about different food, cultures, and values.

“Did we get it right? That would remain to be seen.

As it turned out, we can say, “absolutely”! From a marketing standpoint, being first to introduce Authentic Thai cuisine to this market paid off,” Kalong shares. Hamiltonian foodies welcomed them with open arms, and while it has been a process to be accepted by the masses, through education, great service, social media, and charity events, My-Thai has positioned itself as an award-winning restaurant over the last 20 years.

Since their beginnings in 2001, the My-Thai Brand has expanded significantly. At one point, they boasted with seven locations. Due to the pandemic and some changes in ownership, some locations were closed. The new Paris location is their fourth operating under the My-Thai Brand, but they do also have a sister store in downtown Hamilton called Pintoh.

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Paris became their number one choice in response to the growing population in the area and their goal towards serving young, busy families. This new location will also be the new Head Office for the My-Thai Franchise.

Since opening their doors on January 19th, 2023, My-Thai Paris has had an amazing response, truly feeling welcomed into the community. They do continue to ask for orders to be placed ahead of time, as well as patience and kindness towards their young trainees, who are mainly students from Paris and St. John’s high schools. “Their first job experience is important to them, and we can't make that experience happen alone without our community help. We would like these young people to gain life experience not just work experience and create impact for their lives and build live long friendship within our work family, a tradition we would like to keep and continue,” Kalong explains.

And while both labour and material shortages have delayed and finally made their opening a true accomplishment, Kalong is certain that being able to handle these challenges only means they’ll be able to handle whatever the future brings more easily

For those looking to try Thai food for the first time, Kalong clarifies some misconceptions. “Thai food is still being perceived as spicy and cooked with peanut oil, two of these perceptions are false We cook with vegetable oil and peanut as topping of some of our dishes,” she clarifies. In terms of spiciness, she explains that most of their dishes are mild, but of course, urges the public to keep in mind that everyone’s spice level is different.

“If you are new to Thai food or any food for that matter, I would recommend you try what make the cuisine popular. In our case it is Pad Thai, Cashew Chicken are some of the most popular dishes on our menu,” Kalong shares. Beyond being proud of the ingredients they use and their great service, My-Thai is also honoured to be a part of a pilot Foreign Worker Program with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) as well as Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Through this program, they can create jobs by sponsoring, contracting and helping their Certified Thai Chefs transfer their skill set to Canada “Without Chef there's no part time position creating for students is an example we like to give. Their contribution to our job growth contributes to taxes are a win situation for us as community as well as the country,” Kalong explains Sponsored chefs also hold the right to exercise their status after one year working experience and become permanent residents so long as they meet the criteria by IRCC On their part, My-Thai must prove that they cannot find another chef specialized in Thai cuisine and must meet all criteria by ESDC.

The newest Paris location’s chef recently arrived in December with his whole family “Both him and his wife are currently working at that location so please help us make them feel welcome to our community, their transition to our climate, way of life depend on us as we would like them to stay,”

Kalong writes

As for their 2023 goals, My-Thai will continue to redefine themselves and the industry standard, while challenging the status quo to provide customization and meet today’s dietary demand while maintaining their authenticity as well as that of their cuisine.

“We at My-Thai Group would like to invite Parisians to our welcoming location and enjoy delicious authentic Thai food Thailand is only steps away and enjoying Thailand food can now be in the comfort of our own safe home. We often said My-Thai now is your Thai and its up to the community to make the business viable and help create the jobs”, concludes Kalong.

Who’s ready to try some MyThai?

The newest location in Paris is now open!