Reka Souwapawong. Since she arrived in the United States in 1973, the Thailand native has continued to make a strong and lasting impression on the many people she has met, primarily because of her highly raved and much-admired culinary and entrepreneurial skills. Yet Reka attributes the success and longevity of her restaurant career not to formal culinary training, but to the strict kitchen lessons she received from her mother for whom no dish can ever be good enough.
And then there’s also the one ingredient she puts in her every dish: Passion.
I train my people, and I could train anyone to prepare the food almost, but not quite, as I do. But something they need to have in them is the desire to always cook with love. You can’t think, “I’ll make it nice one night,” and on another night say, “I’m too tired or too busy.” Whether we’re slow or fast, we still have a customer who is king or queen or princess and I must make them feel as if they are in my home.
"A lady of many talents”, that’s Reka. She has been described as a "poet, educator, life insurance sales representative, journalist, photographer, wine connoisseur, painter, horticulturalist”. Little known to many, and certainly not advertised, is her strong commitment and dedication in supporting charitable causes that are very close to her heart. One cannot keep up with the many advocacy groups that Reka supports and for whom she in turn serves as an effective advocate, drawing many to also think and feel for the needy.
It makes me cry knowing how much people really care.
What strings the many beads of her talent into one valuable jewel of a lady? Compassion.
And so this blog is about Reka. But it is also for those who, like me, seek to be inspired to unravel our ever long hidden passion for what is good and make good of our compassion for those who need it.
Passion. Compassion. Feels Good Inside. Like Fine Thai Cuisine.
