Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sujitra Chubthaisong. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Sujitra, thanks for joining us today. Covid has brought about so many changes – has your business model changed?

Interesting story, we opened march 9th 2020, we poured everything we had into making this restaurant a reality. A week later the governor shut all restaurants to to-gos only. Prior to this our business model was a standard table service restaurant. This never came to fruition as we had to immediately adapt to the new reality of the pandemic. We switched everything to to-gos and the rest is history. We used to-gos as a medium to win almost every award in town in our first 2 years. If you put your mind to it , it is possible.

Sujitra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Thai Pearl is a Thai Restaurant located in Historic West Asheville North Carolina. The executive Chef , Sujitra Chubthaisong, or affectionately known as Chef May was trained at the Royal Palace Academy in Bangkok and used to cook for the Royal Family in Thailand. She has brought this spicy and eclectic cuisine to the Mountains of Western North Carolina.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Times are very tough around the world and the 3rd world jungles of North Eastern Thailand are no exception. Chef May was able to escape her circumstance through her cuisine. She was one of 400 selected out of 40 thousand applicants for the training at the Royal Palace Academy, this demonstrates resilience in the pursuit of your dreams. If you keep your head down and keep grinding away then anything is possible. Later on she was among a few selected from the Academy to leave Thailand altogether and move to Australia for some truly electrifying cuisine. She was then able to translate that success into moving to America and opening her own restaurant here.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Word of mouth and the internet. Its not secret that these days customers get nearly all of their information from their cell phones. We made a big push initially to establish a strong online presence, this combined with our affinity for our local community allowed word of us to spread like wild fire. Always treat the customer the way you would like to be treated.

Contact Info:

• Website: thaipearlasheville.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thaipearl_restaurant/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThaiPearlRestaurant/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/thai-pearl-restaurant-asheville

Image Credits
Brenden Almend Photography / Best of Asheville