See the review in Atlanta Life Magazine Oct 06
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from ZAGAT Survey 2006/07 (Codes are for Food, Decor, Service & Estimated Cost *)

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* Estimate by surveyor, including one drink and the tip.

A Recipe for Success 
By Carolyn Cope* for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
published May 1, 2002

Rice Thai Cuisine, a new restaurant in Roswell, is located in a beautiful old house on Canton Street. Upon entering the front door, you are greeted by a visual delight of original artwork and various decoration on the rice theme.

Rice's talented artist-chef not only brings to life paintings so realistic that you would think they were photographs, but his explorations of exotic flavors of Thailand awakens your senses.

Rice offers exquisite fare for vegetarians and non-vegetarians; I have yet to find anything that disappoints on the menu. My favorite dishes are the Red Curry and the Pad Thai. Both are perfectly seasoned and by far the best I have had in Atlanta. But I definitely recommend getting there early so you can start off with an order of basil rolls. They are made fresh daily and tend to run out quickly!

*Carolyn Cope is an Atlantan who has just ended a stint with the Peace Crops. She has traveled extensively and works for a condominium developer. She enjoys trying out the city's various culinary offerings.

Roswell: Rice. The simplicity of his restaurant's name represents one of Kris Boonruang's "everlasting memories:" Waking up each morning as a child in Thailand, he opened his window and saw rice, "the beautiful green and gold of it."

Rice is in the former location of Rose's on Canton Street. Boonruang and his wife, Aimee, closed on their purchase of the century-old house Sept. 10, 2001. Despite the tragic events that occurred the next day, they decided not to worry about the economy and proceed with their plans "to open a restaurant that would reflect everything we would want to go to as diners -- simple but elegant," said Boonruang.

Both Boonruangs are artists: Aimee designed the restaurant's interior and Kris' art hangs on the walls. Boonruang's other passion is food. He describes his dishes as traditional, with the techniques, preparation and presentation bearing his own artistic interpretation. Everything is fresh, including the herbs he grows on his six-acre farm in Crabapple, and the menu, changing frequently, is dictated by seasonal ingredients.

"The concept of Rice is to offer our customers authentic Thai cuisine, prepared with very natural, healthy, simple ingredients," said Kris Boonruang, owner and chef of Rice. Boonruang grows many of the vegetables and fruits, which are used in his recipes on his farm in Alpharetta (Crabapple) Georgia, including basil, kaffir lime, lemon grass, and young galangal root.

"I opened my restaurant in Roswell, because I wanted to offer Thai food in its purest form, with fresh, organic ingredients which brings out the flavors," said Boonruang. Rice Thai Cuisine opened in early November in the heart of historic Roswell. The restaurant serves two purposes, dining and exploring the wall art. Cooking is a passion of Boonruang's as are his graphite drawings and oils that decorate the walls of his restaurant, made by the artist, Boonruang himself.

The 100-year-old American ranch home, which has been converted into a restaurant, is cozy and inviting. While large enough to seat 48, groups of 20 can also enjoy the privacy of one of the two spacious rooms. The colors of the interior, which include bright yellow and deep ocean blue, complement the old wooden school chairs and tabletop craft paper. Rich blue glass dinnerware adds a crisp finishing touch. "Everything is simple, nice, and enjoyable, from the feeling of the interior down to the pureness of the food," said Boonruang.

The entrees include a broad selection of curry dishes and noodle selections. All curries offered involve a minimum of 16 to 18 ingredients to create the final dishes. The range of noodle entrees includes Pad Thai, Spicy Basil Noodles and Pad See-ew, which is wide rice noodle with Chinese broccoli and egg. Appetizers offered include fresh basil rolls, and coriander chicken satay. Entrees range from $12 - $15. Appetizers range from $4 - $7. Boonruang's philosophy is to use authentic ingredients used in traditional Thai dishes. For example, to add at sweetness to a dish, palm sugar is used instead of refined sugar. Accordingly, to add a sour flavor, tamarind paste is used instead of vinegar.

Born in Surin, Thailand, Boonruang was taught the old school method of Thai cooking. His philosophy regarding using the freshest ingredients, the patience of preparation, and the pride of creating a meal which is enjoyable to his customers, are what Boonruang believes will be the keys to his success.

All major credit cards are accepted. Reservations are recommended.

ROSWELL'S RICE OFFERS AN ELEGANT TAKE ON THAI FOOD

If we could cast votes for where the next restaurant row will be situated (and with our wallets, we can), a prime candidate is along Canton Street in Roswell, Amid a block of quaint, cozy shops are several restaurants already, including Mittie's Tea Room, the French eatery Pastis and a Fratelli di Napoli. Take a short stroll down the Norman Rockwellian lane and you'll find Asher, a hot spot outside the Perimeter, and, almost directly across the street, Rice Thai Cuisine.

Rice so elegantly occupies a former home (that until recently housed the tea room Rose on Canton Street) that it almost resembles the day spas that are its neighbors. The recently opened Thai Restaurant already gets an "A" for presentation, from its comfy porch and sunny front lawn to its two entertainingly decorated dining rooms -- one with blue walls an kooky oil paintings, the other with gray walls and black-and-white photorealistic paintings of kids, models, dogs, etc.

From the fashionable one-word name to the elephant patterns on the server's aprons, Rice's managers are clearly students of tasteful restaurant trends. The mellow  music suggests the kind you'd hear after dark at a bookstore chain, while the table centerpieces have a patriotic touch: Small flowerpots contain either a large garlic clove or a miniature pumpkin with a wee American flag on top. Curry dishes for the rice-based entrees arrived on a long, attractive (and rather sharp) bamboo leaf.

The surroundings at Rice can actually overshadow some of the actual cooking, which nevertheless mostly pleases, and show every sign of a thoughtful and creative kitchen. The Basil Rolls ($4 at lunch), identified as "mom's favorite," include fresh basil, cilantro, carrot and mint around tofu and are served in sushi-shaped slices. While not very substantial or complex in flavor (the roasted peanut sauce provides most of the taste), they nonetheless proved cool and refreshing, almost preferable as a palate cleanser than a proper appetizer.

The chicken coconut soup ($3 at lunch, $5 at dinner) included more sophisticated touches than the usual take on the traditional soup (e.g., the use of cherry tomatoes among the lemon grass and young coconut meat), but had a surprisingly mild, basic flavor. I can't claim to be a connoisseur of larb, or spicy minced beef salad ($7 at lunch), but my wife is, and she was a bit disappointed with hers. She found too little of the lime juice and too much of the roasted sticky rice, making the meat a bit mealy in flavor and appearance.
 
With options of sliced chicken breast, beef, pork, shrimp or vegetarian, I chose some plump, juicy shrimp to accompany my masaman curry ($9 at lunch), which arrived creamy and just spicy enough to have a little kick, but not too strong for curry wimps like me. The plate comes with a cute little garnish - a light papaya salad relish with cubes of yellow pepper.

The pork ordered for the pad Thai entree ($9 at lunch) was chopped in bite-sized morsels larger than you typically find in Asian pork dishes, keeping the meat's own juicy flavor from being overwhelmed by the tamarind sauce. The Chanthaburi rice noodles had nearly a buttery flavor and texture that  was quite delectable with the pieces of scallion, peanuts, and molar-sized tofu chunks.

Roswell's Rice is still ironing out a few kinks. Order hot tea and you get a choice of store-bought teabags and a semi-functional teapot prone to spill boiling water on the table. We didn't receive the tofu promised for an entree of vegetarian green curry (which also included a spicy mélange of bamboo shoots, eggplant and  shallots). Delays proved a bit long at a recent lunch, but the staff was sufficiently conscious of and apologetic. But once the restaurant gets over those bumps, and perhaps branches out its menu a bit, diners looking for cool but comfortable surroundings should be on it like white on rice.