Royal Thai consulate Manop Mekprayoonthong lights the lamp at SOI 19. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Those with a yen for Thai curries and crispies can hit a new address. SOI 19, at 29/1A Ballygunge Circular Road (entry from Dover Road), opened during the Pujas with the promise to “revive Bangkok-style Thai food” in Calcutta for starters, and then establish a pan-India footprint at a later date.

“This will be the city’s first youth-oriented Thai restaurant, serving light and crisp Bangkok food, rustled up by chefs flown in from Thailand. The SOI 19 chain kicks off in Calcutta, and we are looking at four more over the next three years,” Naveen Pai, the brain behind the Thai venture, tells t2.

While Hyderabad is set to open in January 2008, the next stops are planned in Bangalore, Chennai and Jaipur. Naveen, seeking a fresh challenge after Coffee Pai, Malgudi Junction, Chaat…, Melange and The Blue Potato, will be running the SOI 19 chain with partners Prashant Jalan and Rajesh Tulsyan.

“We have floated a new company, Pink Ginger India Pvt Ltd, and our ultimate dream is to take our format to its place of origin, Bangkok. Singapore should follow and then we would like to set up shop in Europe,” Naveen declares.

Two Thai chefs have been handpicked after “extensive trials” in Thailand and flown in to roll out the south Calcutta eatery. Every six months, a fresh pair of chefs will come in with new ideas as the menu keeps reinventing its offerings.

The average start-up cost for each outlet of SOI 19 is being pegged at Rs 55-60 lakh. “It isn’t a stiff restaurant like The Blue Potato at all. SOI 19 is a fun place, with minimalist decor like a contemporary Thai restaurant in Bangkok. We are also looking at SOI 19 food-court formats inside retail malls and commercial complexes,” adds the young restaurateur.