Greek philosopher Plato’s quote that necessity is the mother of invention applied to the opening of a lunch wagon in Kilauea six months ago. “There was no Thai food on the North Shore,” said Maria Maitino, co-owner of Thai 2
Greek philosopher Plato’s quote that necessity is the mother of invention applied to the opening of a lunch wagon in Kilauea six months ago.
“There was no Thai food on the North Shore,” said Maria Maitino, co-owner of Thai 2 Go in Kilauea, so she decided to change that.
Ironically, within weeks of the lunch wagon’s opening in November, another Thai restaurant opened in Princeville, but Maitino’s business is thriving.
Maitino, along with chefs Bam Maroney and Anatta Komers, both from Thailand, started ouLois Ann Ell/Contributed photos
t making food for friends and testing their product, Maitino said.
The feedback was positive — “people loved it” — so Maitino took the business a step further.
“Lunch wagons are becoming popular on the Mainland,” Maitino said of the growing trend of offering quality food without the fuss and overhead of a big restaurant. Once she found a vehicle, Thai 2 Go began.
Chefs Maroney and Komers have taken traditional Thai food and tweaked it to please tastes on Kaua‘i, mostly by toning down the spice.
Komers said in the Thai 2 Go papaya salad — a mixture of shoe-laced green papaya, carrots and crushed peanuts in a light, tangy sauce — they will put in one or two chilies, whereas making it at home in Thailand they will use around 30.
“Sometimes we cry but we like it super-hot,” Komers said of customary, lau-style Thai food. The panang red curry in the Thai plate at Thai 2 Go is the perfect amount of spice, heating up your palate but no lingering burn afterwards.
Loaded with bits of kaffir lime leaves, bell peppers and green beans, it is served next to rice and the papaya salad. Maroney, who came up with the menu, said they can make it mild, medium or hot to order.
The summer rolls are the most-popular and perhaps most-healthful on the menu next to the Thai plate, as Maitino said vegans and raw-food enthusiasts love them.
Broccoli, carrots, cabbage, avocado, mint and cilantro are rolled up in rice paper, with a Tamarind dipping sauce that has chopped peanuts floating on top.
“I’m trying to be as health-conscious as I can,” Maitino said of the food she serves, not only because she tries to be healthy herself but also because of her location on the North Shore. “We don’t use any MSG, our tofu is GMO-free, our chicken and turkey have no hormones,” she said.
The lunch wagon is next to Kaua‘i Pacific School off Kuhio Highway before Kilauea town, with a shady seating area enclosed by foliage where the food is brought out to you.
Maitino’s son is a student at KPS, and he and other students order their school lunches from Thai 2 Go. The kids’ favorites include the Thai burger, made with local Kalaheo beef topped with a cilantro aioli sauce, and the spring rolls, a fried version of its sister summer rolls.
The lunch orders from the school may have been a precursor to Thai 2 Go’s newest venture, which is catering.
“We’ve done weddings, workshops, and we are catering the Malama Pono Paradise Ride in August and developing ginger lemonade for it,” Maitino said, which she hopes to add to the regular menu this summer.
Thai 2 Go is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information call 652-3699.
