Pok Pok Wing Morphing Into Pok Pok Phat Thai Next Week
Looks like Pok Pok's wings were too hot for the kitchen to handle (OK, sorry, no more bad jokes). The New York Times Diners' Journal reports that Portland-transplant Pok Pok will close their offshoot Pok Pok Wing on the Lower East Side and reopen it as Pok Pok Phat Thai next week.
"Our kitchen simply cannot manage the volume of wings we have to prep on a weekly basis," Ricker wrote in an email to The Times. Instead, the joint will serve up four types of pad (or phat) thai: pork, prawn, prawns and pork, and vegan. Funnily enough, Ricker has never served pad thai in any of his locations before.
"In Thailand, phat thai is almost always made in dedicated restaurants or streetside stands," Ricker wrote (from Thailand!). "Pok Pok is not that type of restaurant, so phat thai on the menu would be incongruous."
All the pad Thai dishes, save for the vegan, will be stir-fried in rendered pork fat, and other dishes include crispy broken crepes and mussels. Wing lovers fear not, however; the popular spicy wings will still be available at the Pok Pok Brooklyn location.