Zaab Zaab•Williamsburg

Brunch•$

Owners Bryan Chunton and Pei Wei have transformed their restaurant, Tiger Prawn into a new one that emphasizes Isaan seafood with such dishes as Pla Kha Min, red snapper fried with garlic and cumin; Pla Manao, steamed branzino with garlic, lime, and makrut lime leaves; and Larb Pla Duk Yang, grilled catfish that's been shredded and tossed with Zaab Zaab’s signature larb seasoning of roasted rice powder, fried lime leaves, roasted chili, mint, and fish sauce. All of these new dishes are the creation of Zaab Zaab Talay’s Chef Kannika “Moi” Kittipinyovath, a longtime employee of the restaurant group who worked at Zen Yai in Sunnyside, Queens, before it was destroyed in a fire and then cooked at Eat Gai, and most recently at Tiger Prawn. “Chef Moi has been cooking for more than 30 years, and when I found out that she knew how to make these awesome seafood dishes, I decided to give her her own restaurant,” Chunton says of the 65-year-old chef who is of Isaan descent and hails from Rayong on the East coast of the Gulf of Thailand and owned and operated several eateries in Thailand. In addition to these seafood dishes the restaurant will feature Larb Ped Udon, the duck larb from Udon Thani that made the original location famous, as well as another new dish Larb Tod, a fried meatball of pork and beef with larb seasonings. Zaab Zaab Talay will have a full bar with cocktails made from a house ya dong, the potent northeast Thai moonshine made from fermented rice and herbs, as well as Jaew Som, made with mezcal and jaew sauce, a condiment made with roasted rice powder, tamarind, and lime that’s typically served with grilled meats.