Legendary Atlanta Fine Dining Restaurant Nan Thai to Debut in Buckhead This Fall

Debuting soon, the family who introduced Thai fine dining to Atlanta with Nan’s on Spring Street and 17th over 20 years ago will bring the beloved namesake to Buckhead. This October, Chai Yo Modern Thai Executive Chef and Owner DeeDee Niyomkul, the daughter of pioneering Atlanta restaurateurs Nan and the late Charlie Niyomkul, is poised to transform her popular space located at 3050 Peachtree Road into Nan Thai Buckhead.

“This is my way of honoring my parents’ iconic Nan Thai brand,” says DeeDee Niyomkul. “We’ll be introducing some of my mother’s, Chef Nan's, favorite dishes to our guests in Buckhead.”

Before opening Chai Yo Modern Thai in 2018, DeeDee created Midtown’s popular Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft in 2009, inspired by her grandmother’s Thai street food. Now with Nan’s second location, she wants to carry on the legacy of the family business. The original Nan’s at 1350 Spring Street, with its signature golden tamarind pod statue, is still busy greeting guests 21 years after its debut.

“We’re keeping all of the things guests love about our authentic Thai experience from the food to the service,” says DeeDee. “We’re going to incorporate modern fine dining without the white tablecloths. Nan Thai Buckhead will honor and celebrate our family’s traditions while being more relaxed and adapting with the times.”

Never fear, her mother’s most iconic signature dishes, including the crispy whole red snapper with Chef Nan’s three-flavored chili sauce and lamb hung lay – braised lamb in Northern Thai red curry, will make the move to Buckhead. The new restaurant also allows the mother-and-daughter chefs to integrate Chef Nan’s traditional approach with Chef DeeDee’s modern sensibilities to create new menu items.

DeeDee grew up in New York working at her parents' famous Manhattan restaurant. When the family moved to Atlanta she was hosting and serving at the family’s original Tamarind location on 14th Street when it debuted to citywide acclaim in 1998. After learning nearly every position in her family’s restaurants, DeeDee worked her way up from front of the house and operations to  become executive chef at Nan Thai Fine Dining.

With a love for design, DeeDee is also overseeing Nan Thai Buckhead’s interior ambiance. “We want to add a bit of Nan into the space with Thai silk and exotic wood from Thailand but with a modern touch, along with a gorgeous private dining room,” she says.

Thanks to bar manager Linda Boualavong, Nan Thai Buckhead will have a fun, modern craft cocktail program to complement the Thai flavors emerging from the kitchen. “The explosion of Asian cuisine over the last five years means guests are craving these flavor profiles,” explains Boualavong. “It is fun to work with ingredients like Thai basil, lemongrass and pandan for craft cocktails that pair perfectly with DeeDee’s food.”

When Nan Thai Buckhead debuts this fall, the chicly-designed space will also pay tribute to DeeDee’s father Charlie, who succumbed to COVID-19 at age 70. “My dad never met a stranger,” says DeeDee. “For over 25 years, he made everyone feel like a member of our family. He was always focused on enlightening guests about Thai cuisine while providing a world-class dining experience. That’s been ingrained in me since I was a kid. My parents’ legacy will live on at Nan Thai Buckhead.”