Bangkok Joe's And Thai Raise Money For Tsunami Disaster Relief

Bangkok Joe's Dumpling Bar and Cafi owners Mel Oursinsiri and Aulie Bunyarataphan, both from Thailand, are offering customers a tasty way to aid the millions affected by the recent tsunami in Asia. Every time Chef Bunyarataphan's three-course lunch and dinner menu for Restaurant Week are ordered, Bangkok Joe's will donate five dollars to the Royal Thai Embassy, Washington, DC's tsunami relief fund. The menu, available starting Monday, January 10th, will be offered through the end of the month. T.H.A.I. in Shirlington, Bangkok Joe's sister restaurant, will donate five dollars to the relief fund every time a guest orders the restaurant's monthly special during January.

"We are so lucky that our friends and family are safe," said Oursinsiri, who grew up in Krabi province, where Phi Phi Island is located, an area practically washed away by the devastating tsunami.

Bunyarataphan, who lived in both Bangkok and the eastern province of Ubon, wanted to find a way to help those in her homeland. "This is a simple way for our customers to lend a hand to the tsunami victims," commented Bunyarataphan. "We're hoping to raise around $15,000."

Bangkok Joe's Restaurant Week three-course menu, priced at $20.05 for lunch and $30.05 for dinner, includes specialty dishes such as Coriander Crusted Maple Leaf Farm Duck, with spicy honey-cinnamon sauce, grilled Asian pear, spinach and wonton noodles, and Grilled Sea Scallops with yellow curry sauce, black sticky rice, grilled corn-mango salsa and crispy sweet potatoes. Featured desserts include Lavender Ice Cream with Grand Marnier marinated mixed berries.

Bangkok Joe's features Washington's only dumpling bar, and was opened in September 2003 by husband and wife team Oursinsiri and Bunyarataphan. Bunyarataphan's innovative cuisine is inspired by the exotic tastes and aromas of the traditional Bangkok street food she experienced as a child in Thailand, along with Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and French flavors she learned to love as a chef in the United States. Bangkok Joe's colorful, modern interior, created by the internationally renowned Jordan Mozer and Associates, is inspired by Thai culture and lore. Traditional Thai symbols, such as swirls from Buddha's hair, are translated into a design motif. Distinctive "elephant trunk" lights swoop dramatically down the center of the room and the chorfa, a curved symbol that tops temples, gracefully arches the dining booths.

Since opening, Bangkok Joe's has consistently received recognition in The Washington Post and Aulie has been seen sharing her Thai cooking and dumpling techniques throughout the DC metro area. Located at 3000 K Street in Georgetown's Washington Harbour, Bangkok Joe's hours are Sunday through Thursday from 11:30am to 11pm and on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:30am to midnight. For reservations, please call 202.333.4422. Bangkok Joe's sister restaurant, T.H.A.I. Shirlington, is located at 4029 South 28th Street in Arlington, VA. To make reservations please call 703.931.3203.