Lanxang Kingdom, a Lao food project sponsored by the Center for Lao Studies (CLS), is as much about educating the public about Lao culture through its unique and delicious cuisine as it is about the Lao people laying claim to the food that is rightfully theirs. For decades, Lao food has been marketed as and mistaken for something else other than Lao.
CLS will create a Lao “pop-up” restaurant, open once per week, at Turtle Tower in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. Lanxang Kingdom will offer only authentic, homemade Lao dishes, thereby engaging new customers in the Lao cultural experience. Customers will also come to understand the difference between Lao, Thai and other Southeast Asian cuisines. It is our long-term hope that success of the venture will serve as inspiration for potential Lao restaurateurs to create and market their own food venues as “Lao.”
The lack of authentic Lao restaurants is a lost opportunity for the Lao community to educate the general public about their own culture. CLS proposes to remedy this through Lanxang Kingdom, the first exclusively Lao food restaurant in San Francisco. As a result of this new venture, CLS will increase exposure of Lao culture and cuisine while establishing a sustainable, long-term revenue source for CLS programs that will continue to promote Lao Studies.
As a small nonprofit organization, CLS is constantly looking at different ways to fund and sustain our programs and operations, such as our on-line marketplace, https://www.kadlao.com/. Revenue from Kad Lao, as well as this restaurant will go back to helping CLS maintain its status as an important academic and research center for Lao Studies.
Lao Menu Translation Services
As a way to support restaurant owners and promote Lao food, CLS will translate menu items (Lao dishes only) into the Lao language FREE of CHARGE. If you are interested in adding Lao writing to your menu, please send a copy in Word Doc, Photoshop or Publisher format to info@laostudies.org. Please allow 7 days turn-around.
Sponsors
