Review: At Tiny Thai, reveling in the difference of native knowledge

Curry from housemade spice pastes is only one of the truly Thai touches offered by Wanthureerat “Kae” Baramee

Baramee grinds her own spice pastes for massaman and other coconut curries at Tiny Thai.

In Buffalo, you’re more likely to win at roulette than have your pad Thai made by a cook born in the Kingdom of Thailand. 

One in 36 isn’t even close. 

Why does it matter?

I’ll put my cards on the table. Nothing - not suboptimal wok hay, not sickly-sweet sauce, no flaw I could name - has ever stopped me from finishing pad Thai.

That doesn’t mean I don’t hunt better versions, starting with the cuisine’s point of origin. A native cook who grew up steeped in the culture brings nuances to dishes other cooks rarely can.

Wanthureerat “Kae” Baramee grew up in Thailand’s Ang Thong province, north of Bangkok. Her mother had a small restaurant based in the family’s home, and still does. She managed restaurants before coming to the U.S. in 2016 to hone her professional cooking chops. In Portland, Ore., she cooked in Thai restaurants and met her partner Marc Moscato.

The menu prices in this photograph are outdated, but Baramee remains the same.

In Buffalo she cooked at Yummy Thai, Rin Thai Bistro, 100 Acres, and Grange Community Kitchen before Tiny Thai’s first pop-up in July 2020. It was October 2021 when Tiny Thai rolled out as a food truck, and a takeout kitchen at 37 Chandler St.