Faaï

Through years of travelling, meeting local families and chefs, and training with some of the best, she came to understand the very essence of Thai cuisine, including its regional variations. There was therefore no hint of impostor syndrome when this former cultural-venue administrator and her partner Franck, a former tour guide and start-up entrepreneur, decided to take the plunge—first in Lille, in a tiny space (a post-Covid project), then in Paris, opening their first restaurant in Belleville and, finally, a second one in the 11th arrondissement.

As Anne points out, Thai cuisine is all about balancing flavours that are often quite powerful, while bringing together a large number of ingredients in a single dish. Every recipe is therefore built around a balance between saltiness (fish sauce), sweetness (cane or palm sugar), heat (pepper, roots, dried or fresh chillies), and acidity (lime, tamarind, and so on). The cook’s job is consequently to bring these flavours together without letting them clash, whether in street food, prepared to order, or in royal cuisine, whose recipes were widely passed down by successive kings. Thai cuisine thus manages to be both approachable and sophisticated.

Much like the chefs in Thailand who have succeeded in modernising this cuisine without ever betraying its essence, at Faai she offers contemporary Thai food made with the finest ingredients and precise cooking techniques. The menu features a lovely variety of dishes, with their regions of origin indicated: a wood-fire-smoked mussel pancake, a crispy rice salad, classic chicken skewers with satay sauce, and, of course, fragrant and comforting curries—red, green or massaman.

The dishes are not necessarily very spicy, but are characterised by the flavours of charcoal cooking, the freshness of aromatic herbs, and the crispness of fried foods, although some dishes can occasionally be a little too rich in oil. It is an appetising menu that makes you want to come back and discover more of the dishes.

In the décor, as in the cuisine, the Thai spirit is respected, while being given a modern yet vintage twist: green walls (as can be found in southern Thailand, where the colour is traditionally said to help keep mosquitoes away), a few Buddhas and personal objects. And, of course, there is a portrait of the king, as can be found in Thai homes—but not that of the current monarch. Instead, it is a portrait of his father and predecessor, Rama IX, who was deeply loved by his people and known for his humanitarian outlook and openness towards the West.