The Oakland hills’ Montclair district has another contender in the Thai food category, with the recent opening of Payakk on Thornhill Drive near 7-Eleven. The cozy restaurant is the passion project of Chef Nattaporn Pinpech, affectionately known as Chef Tobb, who learned to cook in her family’s kitchen in Phichit, Thailand.
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The food at Payakk is traditional Thai cuisine; but Tobb also sees each dish as a way to share the historical culture of her Southeast Asia homeland. She says that pad thai chaiya, for example, became popular in the late 1930s and ’40s from a government campaign promoting noodle consumption during a rice shortage.
Two of Tobb’s standout dishes are the whole deboned fried branzino (sea bass) and the kho beef, featuring a 38-day dry-aged prime ribeye inspired by traditional Thai preservation techniques. Ingredients are sourced primarily in California with a commitment to sustainability.
The vibe at Payakk seems meant to feel like a Bangkok music listening lounge, inspired by midcentury Thai social clubs and neon-lit vinyl-record bars. The restaurant is filled with antiques and artifacts that Chef Tobb and her husband have collected in their culinary travels. The transformation from the former catering space is impressive.
This is Tobb’s second restaurant (she also owns Secrets of Tiger in Emeryville) and she says she is excited to have found a Montclair location.
“I love Oakland — the art and food and music,” she says.
Payakk is already adding to Oakland’s entertainment culture with events like vinyl DJ nights and collaborations with wineries and breweries.
Another new eatery: Go Bahn Mi is opening in the recently vacated Grinders location on Montclair’s Antioch Court. The tiny kitchen seems perfect for this Vietnamese sandwich shop, which opened its first location inside the Lanesplitter Pizza in Emeryville.
Horse play: After years in storage, the beloved Montclair Park horses have been refurbished and returned to the frontier village. Montclair’s new parks and recreation director, Rodolpho Dominguez, made it a priority when he took his position earlier this year, working with Oakland Public Works to restore the horses.
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“Our real objective was to keep them looking as natural as possible, still maintaining that vintage look, but also giving them a little update with a bit of bond work and a fresh coat of paint,” he says.
The horses are historical to Montclair Park, and Dominguez says they found pictures of them going back to the 1940s and ’50’s. Some of his colleagues remember “riding” the horses and attached toy stagecoach when they were kids.
“I think that was the main catalyst for (Oakland) Public Works to get started on them. I sent them a few pictures to let them know the history these horses carry and the memories that people made with them.”
Dominguez says there may be a fourth horse in storage somewhere. For now, three should be enough to provide fun for a new generation of children.
Firehouse news: Montclair’s storybook firehouse is now sporting a banner that reads “Future Home of the Montclair Arts Center.”
It’s another visible sign of progress in the effort to renovate and reopen the long-shuttered landmark. The Hillside Gardeners are kicking in their support by agreeing to landscape the area around the Mountain Boulevard building, and a pledge drive is underway to prove to the city of Oakland that the interest is there.
Ginny Prior can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and at ginnyprior.com.
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