ORLANDO, Fla. – Jess and Elizabeth Calvo are looking to make a lot of new friends as they get ready to open their restaurant in Orlando’s College Park neighborhood.
“For us, our policy is very simple; every single customer is our best friend,” Jess Calvo said.
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The couple is opening Thai Farm Kitchen at 2625 Edgewater Drive, which used to house RusTeak before the restaurant moved to Thornton Park.
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This will be a second location for the restaurant which first opened in 2018 in Brooklyn. However, the couple’s history running a restaurant goes a little further back.
“It started in 2016. We had two restaurants in Bangkok, Thailand, which are successful and award-winning restaurants,” Jess Calvo said.
The original restaurants were called Farm Luck Dee, but the name changed to Thai Farm Kitchen when the Calvos moved their business to New York City. The pair found a warm reception in Brooklyn but like many who make the move to Florida, they wanted a warmer climate as well.
“Living in New York, having the snow is quite challenging for us,” Jess Calvo said. “So after living in New York for about three years, we decided, ‘OK, if we’re going to open a next restaurant, probably it will be a place where we want to live as well.’ So we’ve been looking around and then we decided what Florida has the nearest climate to Bangkok.”
They landed on Orlando specifically for a variety of reasons, but, again, there was one reason, in particular, that is common among transplants to the area.
“First of all, we love Disney World,” Jess Calvo said. “So, we came to Orlando and finally we said, ‘Orlando it is. Let’s do it in Orlando.’”
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Thai Farm Kitchen will be far from the only Thai restaurant in town, but the Calvos said their cuisine will stand out. The secret is his wife, Kanyawee Calvo, who goes by Elizabeth.
“She cooks Thai food and learned from her grandmother and her mother,” Jess Calvo said. “And her family (are farmers). So it’s a long generation of home-cooking style or farm-cooking style which (there) is not much existing in Thailand anymore and she inherited (it).”
Jess Calvo had another way of explaining their cuisine.
“If we’re gonna say it loud and clear, we’re taking Bangkok to Orlando,” he said.
While the menu of Thai Farm Kitchen focuses on authentic Thai dishes, Jess Calvo said they are trying something new for their Orlando location.
“After we do some market research here, some have never tried Thai food or some are used to western Thai food. So, authentic (Thai) food is the main thing we’re going to serve here, but at the same time, we also have fusion Thai food,” he said. “So some people who wanted to try it but still feared in, some way, the authenticity we said, ‘OK, we have the fusion one for you to try to start with.’”
Jess Calvo also made it a point to highlight the restaurant’s vegan options.
“We will be serving one of the most very tasty vegan Thai food. So for any vegans lovers out there we have answers for you here. So. there will be no longer any more boring vegan offerings,” he said.
Jess Calvo said he and his wife are waiting for the signage to arrive for the restaurant, but the interior construction is largely complete except for some decorating that still needs to be done. He added the restaurant will seat about 150 inside, plus two private dining rooms for parties and events and a pet-friendly outdoor dining area.
“As I mentioned, we’re taking Bangkok here to Orlando, which means not only the food but the people and the service — we’re serving with a very traditional Thai culture,” he said. “So once you step into our door, you are in Bangkok. So, no need to fly far.”
The Calvos plan to be on hand to greet customers personally when the restaurant opens.
“We love to engage with our customers. As I said, our policy they are our best friends. So we need to be here to welcome our best friends,” Jess Calvo said.
The pair hope to have the restaurant up and running sometime in January.