Alan Akwai
Hat Yai | Portland, OR
APRIL 2018
With a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Oregon, Portlander Alan Akwai began his career at Ernst & Young but quickly saw the light and made the shift to hospitality. He started bartending at Portland cocktail den Teardrop Lounge and Bruce Carey’s Bluehour. Akwai was soon bar managing at Wafu, as well as Raven & Rose, before moving on to St. Jack.
Earl Ninsom is from Bangkok, Thailand, and learned to cook during summers spent in southern Thailand with his grandmother, who prepared meals over a charcoal fire. Ninsom graduated from college in 2000 and moved across the Pacific to Los Angeles, where he began washing dishes and prepping at his uncle’s restaurant. In 2009, the Ninsom family moved to Portland and Ninsom opened Paadee (to bring good things), filling the menu with Thai comfort food that reminded him of childhood.
Eventually, in a small, somewhat covert space attached to PaaDee, Ninsom opened the 24-seat tasting menu restaurant, Langbaan, with Akwai curating the beverage pairings. Ninsom creatively brought together Thai tradition with Western fine dining presentation and technique. Langbaan was a semifinalist for James Beard’s “Best New Restaurant” in 2015.
In 2016, the duo opened fast-casual Hat Yai, named after a city in southern Thailand that inspires the restaurant’s fried chicken, curries, and roti. The duo earned a spot on James Beard’s semifinalist list for “Outstanding Restaurateur” for his work. Akwai and Ninsom will open their second Portland location of Hat Yai shortly and hope to bring more good things in the future.
