Umi Nom, Kuma Inn Sister Restaurant, Moving Along

King Phojanakong talks with Umi Nom architect Thida Thongthai Chan in an area that will become the open kitchen. Two months ago the same area was filled with rubble.

 

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Umi Nom: moving along, right on schedule, is the Pratt-area Brooklyn outpost of the popular LES restaurant Kuma Inn, at 433 DeKalb Avenue. Chef/owner King Phojanakong gave us another tour of the space last week; the rubble has gone and the drywall is up. Phojanakong also recently received some special sake pouring equipment to install at what will become a wood paneled bar where twenty sakes by the glass will be available. The chef is in process of refining the new restaurant’s menu, which will follow Kuma Inn’s small-plate format, including the ever popular Chinese sausage and sticky rice dish.

Just as the name Kuma Inn is a play on the Filipino word meaning to eat, the new restaurant’s name Umi Nom is a play on the word meaning to drink. Umi Nom will take the place of an old Laundryland; Phojanakong said that the Umi Nom sign will likely be superimposed over the restored, backlit laundromat sign. We’ll be checking in a few more times before Umi Nom’s May 1st target opening. Coming up next: the finished space and the menu.