Phojanakong and right hand man Phet survey the rubble that will become the kitchen area. (Hugh Merwin)
An old, shuttered Laundryland next to a Crown Fried Chicken at 433 DeKalb Avenue on the border of Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant is set to be renovated into a restaurant. It will be an outpost of the hugely popular Kuma Inn, owner King Phojanakong told us in May. We got an exclusive first look at the raw space yesterday.
Phojanakong, recently the subject of an Edible Manhattan profile, said that the new restaurant’s menu will follow Kuma Inn’s small-plate format with a “heavy Filipino and Thai emphasis.” Some staples of Kuma Inn’s menu, like the Chinese sausage and sticky rice dish, will also be on the new space’s menu.
At lunchtime the kitchen will switch to sandwiches and noodles. Phojanakong, who is also the co-chef of Talay in Harlem, plans to serve beer and wine, and will feature 20 sakes by the glass. We’ll be checking in a few more times before the as-yet-unnamed restaurant gets closer to its May 1 target opening.






Eh? He could get a liquor license for this place but not for the LES site?
Weird place for a restaurant like that...used to live around the corner from there...chic restaurant accross the street from lafayette gardens. Good luck to them.
Agreed that it's an odd choice for locations. I live there and find this pretty weird. There are plenty of fancy restaurants within a 5-10 minute walk, but this place will certainly stick out like a sore thumb on that block. I don't exactly think they're targeting the LG.
I understand the Oval Office looks just like that craphole in the picture after GW Bush ripped out the copper plumbing just before being evicted.
We get it. You hate Bush, etc etc etc.
Douche.
You don't get SHIT because you're an idiot American. Bush was simply another putrid pustule who represented the festering stinking pus that underlies American society.
Now all that crap is coming to the surface and your nation is collapsing like the exploding ZIT that it is.
What makes you think I'm American?
BTW: you're still a douche.
score!
That space redifines the term cold, dark shell.
OMG that's walking distance from my house! So excited!