20220630-HOWARDMAGAZINE - Flipbook - Page 25
Best Thai
Dok Khao Thai Eatery
6000 Merriweather Drive, Suite B155, Columbia, 410-997-8899, dokkhao.com/columbia
When in distress, “many people go to exercise, go to yoga,” said Porntipa Pattanamekar,
owner of Dok Khao Thai Eatery in Columbia. For her, eating is the cure. People have suffered
immensely during the pandemic, Pattanamekar says, and “I want to heal them with food. I
cook what my mom cooked for me.”
Looking at photos of Pattanamekar’s homeland of Chumphon, near Phuket in Thailand, it’s
hard to imagine leaving its bright turquoise waters, pristine white beaches and lush greenery.
Growing up there, her life revolved around food. Her family ran a seafood operation and she
woke up in the morning to the smell of coffee and pastries that her mother had prepared for
fishermen as they set out for the day’s catches. In Columbia, Pattanamekar has recreated a slice
of her homeland on Merriweather Drive, a sumptuously-decorated oasis that serves an array
of Thai specialties as well as coffee and desserts. The decor offers a contrast to the spicy dishes,
says the owner, pointing out that her homeland is the spiciest region of Thailand.
Opened in August 2021, this marks the second location for Dok Khao; the first is in Woodbridge,
but Pattanamekar owns a total of seven restaurants in the region. It wasn’t her initial plan: She
graduated from George Washington University with a master’s degree in engineering, but says
her family supported her when she decided to pivot to follow her passion. On one condition,
her mother said: “You sell real food.” It’s an order Pattanamekar has gladly followed.
Editor’s note: Winners & honorable mentions were determined by popular vote. Readers were invited to nominate and vote online in March and May.
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