Padaek owner named Restaurateur of the Year

The DMV’s premier Laotian chef Seng Luangrath, the owner of several restaurants, including Padaek in Seven Corners, was named Restaurateur of the Year by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington.

The award was presented on Aug. 3 at the 43rd annual RAMMYS Gala at the Walter Washington Convention Center.

The RAMMY awards recognize the “exceptional ability and accomplishments of the hard-working individuals and organizations of the Washington, D.C., region’s restaurant and food service community.”

Luangrath and her husband purchased a Thai restaurant at 6395 Seven Corners Center, added Laotian specialties to the menu and changed the name to Padaek, which means “unfiltered fermented fish sauce.”

Related story: Seven Corners chef is getting national attention

Laotian food is similar to the cuisine from northern Thailand, but is spicier and more complex.

Menu items at Padaek include Luangrath’s unique take on Thai cuisine, as well as Laotian items. The menu offers khao soi gai (coconut curry, yellow noodles, and grilled boneless chicken thighs), papaya salad, laab (chopped chicken, beef, duck, or tofu salad with spicy fish sauce, toasted rice powder, herbs, and sticky rice), crab noodles, pork belly curry, and much more.

Luangrath opened the highly acclaimed restaurant Thip Khao, at 3962 14th St., NW, in D.C. in 2014, followed by Baan Mae at 1604 7th St., NW, D.C., and a second Padaek at 2931 S. Glebe Road, in Arlington.

Luangrath learned to cook from her grandmother, first in Laos, then in refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines, before her family immigrated to California when she was 14.

Padaek offers an all-you-can-eat special on Sundays.