Placing an emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components, Thai cuisine is famous for its balance of five flavors: sour, sweet, salty, bitter and spicy. While some dishes blend all of the flavors into a signature taste, others are served as compliments to the overpowering flavors of spice and bitterness. Thai chef McDang characterizes Thai food as demonstrating “intricacy; attention to detail; texture; color; taste; and the use of ingredients with medicinal benefits, as well as good flavor.” His description fits the mold of which Rice Violet was sculpted from.
Sitting on the corner of Main and Exchange Street in downtown Worcester, Rice Violet breathes cultural life into an area slowly shying away from diversity. From its bright colors that line the exterior of the restaurant – giving itself a pop of personality – to the ethnically hired staff, Rice Violet looks to remain authentic in a time where authenticity is scarce. Its fluid menu caters to a wide range of eating lifestyles including vegetarian and gluten-free dishes – an underserved market in the Worcester culinary scene. The menu, filled with recipes directly from the central part of Thailand – considered the Bangkok Style of Cooking – mix effortlessly with innovative modern Thai dishes, giving Rice Violet a broader audience of food aficionados.
Pork dumplings, chicken satay, edamame – seasoned Japanese snack of steamed soybean pods and seasoned salt, and samosa bag – a crispy wonton wrapper stuffed with potato and curry powder, are only but a few of the a la carte dishes that can be paired with salads like the famous Thai papaya salad (som tum) – a salad with green papaya, tossed with tomatoes, chili lime dressing and tin peanuts served with sticky rice or simply paired with shrimp fried rice – a universal favorite. The eclectic menu serves one purpose: to be the center of any social occasion, if not, the social occasion itself. As we know, American restaurants are about the individual experience – with a recent shift in the restaurant culture to mimic that of European ordering styles – and it focuses on each individual’s starter meal, entree, and dessert – in that order. While in Thailand, much like the European countries, ordering meals is about sharing and enjoying as much food together as a unit. As a general rule, Thai diners order the same number of dishes as people present; however, all dishes are shared and enjoyed together. Watching a table of six order five or six dishes and all serve themselves a portion from each dish is not a rare sight at Rice Violet, but instead, it is the norm. The best part of shared dinners at Rice Violet? They honor the “bring your own beverage” policy which makes them undeniably approved as a #SundayFunday destination.
