The French Have Conquered Thailand
Published by foodette August 16th, 2007 in Brentwood, French, Los Angeles, Restaurant Closings, Restaurant Openings, Thai.
A craving for Thai food can hit suddenly, unexpectedly, and out of nowhere. That was how it was for the husband and I last night, as we took a stroll down to our neighborhood Thai restaurant, Tongdang. However, when we got there, we were faced with the picture you see to your left. Tongdang was gone! Even some of the lettering was pealed off, leaving only “Thai Kitch” to remind us of what used to be. Instead, a French restaurant, La Provence Patisserie & Cafe, will be moving in.
Upon further Internet research, I have found information on both establishments. The Brentwood Tongdang was one of two establishments - the other was located in San Marino. While the Brentwood location has closed, the San Marino location is still open. I blame extremely high rental prices in Brentwood for this occurrence - many a good restaurant or boutique has had to close up shop due to their monthly expenses.
La Provence has another location in Beverly Hills - this space will be once again assigned to a duo-location establishment. I read several reviews for their original location, enough to make out that people have made La Provence their favorite breakfast destination. They also seem to have soup, salads, and sandwiches for lunch. It appears to be an inexpensive way to enjoy good French food. If these reviews are accurate, I think our neighborhood Le Pain Quotidian will have some competition. While Le Pain has a delicious assortment of French fare, inexpensive is not quite how I would describe it.
While I will mourn the loss of our only Thai restaurant, I will embrace the future, which appears to be filled with waffles and cream, buttered croissants, and good coffee at a reasonable price.
Locations:
Tongdang San Marino:
932 Huntington Drive
San Marino, CA 91108
(626)300-1010
La Provence Beverly Hills:
8950 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(310) 888-8833
La Provence Brentwood future location:
11677 San Vicente Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90049
8 Responses to “The French Have Conquered Thailand”
- 1 Pingback on Aug 19th, 2007 at 9:07 am
- 2 Pingback on Aug 21st, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Is that the case with many restaurants in the Los Angeles area especially in Brentwood? A high turnover rate regardless of how good the food is.
Looking forward to a possible review of La Provence Patisserie & Cafe.
I am particularly fond of Thai food too. Every time I travel for over a week, I alweays locate and find a Thai restaurant so I can some of their fabulous curries.
Darlene - I won’t go so far as to say the quality of the food has nothing to do with keeping a restaurant open. Tongdang isn’t the best Thai food in the city, but it was the only Thai food within walking distance of my apartment! Also, the prices were great, and the food worked for me. But, it was never packed, and I guess it just didn’t earn enough to keep paying those high rents. The most popular restaurants will never face this situation, but the ones that live in that middle ground often do.
And, definitely, a review of La Provence will be in order, as soon as they are open.
Traveller - Yes, it’s too bad - this place was always on my list of a simple lunch stop if I had friends in town who enjoy Thai. Here’s hoping they also like French!
I would be crushed to lose the only Thai restaurant around but at least there are some dishes you can make yourself economically. Then again, there is nothing like going out to eat and having no clean-up after! Be sure to post when you visit the new joint!
hahha… yes, a craving for Thai has, also, hit me suddenly! It came from reading Gold’s recent article on Jitlada. Have ya tried that? I’m looking forward to giving that a shot. Also, I’m in Alhambra, so I’m close enough to give Tong Dong a try. Thanks for the review. Look forward to seeing your review of La Provence.
Sheliza - very true, I should learn the art of cooking Thai food! My pantry is more geared towards the West, and I have failed pretty miserably at attempting many Asian cuisines. Still, I should be more adventurous - perhaps Tongdang’s closing will be my excuse to learn how to cook Eastern dishes.
Hanrychan - I have not tried that yet - thanks for the tip. Let me know if you try out the Tongdang near you - I would love to hear what you think!