At the heart of Pomelo restaurant on Magazine Street is a romance more than two decades in the making. When co-proprietor Frankie Weinberg traveled to Thailand in 2000 to teach English, not only did he fall in love with the country, its culture and its cuisine, he also found himself falling for a young Thai student named Aom Srisuk. The two dated for a couple of years before Weinberg sadly had to return to the U.S.
A very long-distance friendship ensued, and blossomed over the better part of the next 15 years. Weinberg became a business professor at Loyola University, while Srisuk began cooking and managing a series of Thai and Japanese bars and restaurants for her family. In 2017, Weinberg returned to Thailand, and the two traveled – and ate – extensively throughout Asia. This time, their romance stuck. “We felt exactly the same way we did 15 years ago, and it seemed like something could really happen again,” said Srisuk.
Something happened, indeed. Srisuk and Weiberg married in 2018 and settled in Uptown New Orleans, where they began to plan a new dream project: an authentic Thai restaurant, just like the ones they’d spent so much time in together. The result is Pomelo, named after an Asian citrus fruit popular in Thai cuisine. Occupying a small footprint along the Magazine Street corridor, the eatery is a love letter to the central Thai cuisine of her upbringing, with a few unique twists thrown in to keep things interesting.
The menu at Pomelo stays true to the chef’s Thai roots, elevating the New Orleans Asian food scene without becoming another utilitarian noodle spot. Notable starters include a luscious herbal pork sausage and spicy wontons, as well as a delightfully refreshing salad of sweet corn and shrimp flavored with Thai celery, cilantro, onions and lime. The shrimp laab mixes exotic flavors and textures, employing an herbal rice powder to give a lovely crunch to the classic Thai dish. On the larger side, the green curry with seafood and a rich, coconut milk-based broth has a invigorating kick of chiles, while the yellow khao soi curry combines egg noodles, shredded chicken, pickled mustard greens, lime, fried shallots and garlic, topped with pork rinds for an unexpected porcine crunch.
While Pomelo’s standard menu has plenty to delight diners, don’t sleep on the chef’s specials, which are often inspired by Srisuk’s love of Japanese cuisine. A recent dish of barbecued eel with a combination of both Thai and Japanese influences is an exciting and unexpected fusion of bright and tangy notes that hit the palate like an umami bomb.
Despite the challenges of a new city and a kitchen one could most generously describe as “modest,” Srisuk remains the happy, humble chef. Most of all, she finds herself enamored with the amiable attitude of New Orleans diners. “People here are so friendly! I feel like I have very wonderful customers, it’s very sweet. I feel like anywhere you go, you can just say ‘hi!’ to the left and right and just talk with people. The longer I’m here, the more I’m happy to be in this city.”
Given the bounty enticing flavors coming out of Pomelo’s kitchen, it’s safe to say that, for the city of New Orleans, the feeling is definitely mutual.
About the Chef
Kanokporn “Aom” Srisuk is a native of Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand, where she grew up cooking in a variety of restaurants run by her family. Over the years, her studies included Japanese business and real estate as well, and her travels across the globe have a way of inspiring her interpretations of traditional Thai cuisine. One thing the chef loves about being in New Orleans is how locals embrace the heat. “It’s very rare that people complain about the food being spicy,” she says. “I tell my cooks, ‘Don’t worry about the spice…New Orleans people can handle it just fine!”
