Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Balow.
Hi Ryan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Annie and Ryan Met in Thailand in 2011 during his time living in NE Thailand as a Peace Corps Volunteer. In 2013 they moved to Rochester (Ryan is originally from Rochester). Annie had a plan to work in the medical field, but as life happens sometimes, things took her in another direction. Her desire to find Thaifood in a city lacking in the cuisine led her to learn how to cook and seek out new opportunity’s.
Ryan and Annie started Thaipop as a pop-up restaurant out of our apartment building in Downtown Rochester, MN. They were seeking a community connection and way to introduce their friends to the cuisine. The opportunity opened to rent out a kitchen at Forager Brewing and we would host pop-up dinners There. We had two seatings of 25 people and a 7 to 9 course tasting menu,. We hosted dinners at Forager twice per month. We did this for around six years from 2014 to 2019. After that we started hosting pop-ups in the basement of our current location, underneath Grands Rounds Brewing Co. We were doing pop-ups in the basement serving the same style food and a 7 to 9 course tasting menu until Covid essentially shut things down in the state. we then pivoted to doing a menu catered to takeout. we offered a rotating menu and sold pre-orders Monday through Wednesday evenings. we did that for about one year before the opportunity to take over the current location (Grand Round Brewing Co.) came and in August 2021 we took over the restaurant and turned it into what it is today; a full service restaurant featuring a seasonal menu, craft mocktail;s and cocktails + local beers
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Obviously COVID was a big struggle for us, pivoting and changing our entire focus from dine-in to take out only. Luckily, at this time, we were still cooking and offering dinners as a hobby and part time job. We navigated this period, for about a year, offering take out. We ended up opening our restaurant during the middle of the pandemic. It was a HUGE risk, but we thought the risk was worth it, In our view, the industry was in the beginning of recovery mode, our downtown area we felt had to recover and if and when it did, we would make huge headwinds being a new restaurant offering a new cuisine. It all went well after opening and we became very busy and popular in our community!
Other struggles are not unique to us, being in this industry, trends fluctuate. we try to keep up on trends by traveling as much as possible. We enjoy traveling in Thailand and Asia as well Mexico and Europe. It’s always important to have a good grasp on what’s trending, and what other kind of ding experiences are out there. Every time we travel we get new ideas and inspiration! Traveling keeps us fresh and keeps our restaurant exciting!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about ThaiPop?
ThaiPop is a Thai Restaurant known for traditional cuisine that can also be fun and new. The name ThaiPop comes from the fact that we used to run a Pop-up restaurant. Chef Annie, a native of Thailand enjoys cooking creative dishes. She is self-taught, learning how to cook by observing her family members cook at home in Thailand and by watching Chefs on YouTube. Her food to often inspired from ancient Thai dishes; bringing flavors back from the past. She is often quoted as saying that she wants her customers to venture out of their comfort zone and try something new. This is why Pad Thai isn;t on the ThaiPop menu (officially). Chef Annie wants to encourage people to order something new and experience Thai cuisine in a new way.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Be Authentic and never cut corners. We always get our ingredients from Thailand, real, true Thai ingredients. We see other restaurants purchasing ingredients that are less quality or unauthentic. We always say, if we can’t get it from Thailand, make it yourself, If you cannot make it for whatever reason, don’t put it on the menu. A customer may not always know this side of things or be able to tell, but we will always know. There are always many people who will know and we believe they will appreciate this aspects and we think that this is what makes our food outstanding!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thaipopmn.com
- Instagram: @thaipopmn
- Facebook: @thaipopmn
