Profile of Thai Cuisine Home Own and Home Grown Restaurant 

By Scottie Thomas

Open since July 2008, Thai Cuisine opened on Virginia Avenue courtesy of Owners Joe & Thim Potchanant, and their son, Nicholas.  Immigrants of Thailand and now citizens of the United States, the Potchanants started their restaurant business in the midst of the ‘Great Recession.’

Born in 1955, Joe is a former student of Lockyear College for two years, having studied Business Administration.  He married his wife, Thim, twenty-five years ago.  She learned to cook back in her native country from her father.  Their restaurant, now at a new location since August, is off Tutor Lane and maintains a staff of about sixteen part-timers and full-timers.  Their son, Nicholas, works on as the Manager.  His mother, Thim, serves as the Kitchen Manager.  The family boasts a long standing history in the restaurant industry.

Thai Cuisine provides an authentic Thai menu as they prepare dishes with exotic herbs such as lemon grass, basil and galanga.  Their dishes can be custom-made to accommodate a vegetarian or gluten-free diet, as well as other allergens.  The staple of any Thai Menu as Joe & Nick Potchanant shared is the Phad Thai.  The plate consists of stir fried thin noodles with your choice of beef, chicken, pork or shrimp that come mixed with tofu, egg, sweet turnips, bean sprouts, red and green onions and a sweet sauce.

Another signature dish is the Som Thum Thai which is a premium Thai Papaya Salad.  The Som Thum Thai consists of shredded raw green papaya mixed with shredded carrots, tomatoes, grounded peanuts, lime juice, garlic and chili peppers.  It is served on a lettuce and cabbage bed.

The establishment also features Lunch Specials, served until 2:30 p.m. In addition to their Lunch & Dinner service, Thai Cuisine provides Carry-Out, a full-sized Bar & Grill and an Outdoor Patio for the warmer weather.  For dessert, they make a homemade Coconut Ice Cream with sticky rice.  It is the perfect conclusion to your Thai Cuisine experience.

The Potchanants and Thai Cuisine are proud members of the community as they support various non-profit organizations such as Riley Hospital for Children, the American Cancer Society and Evansville ARC.

Thai Cuisine is open seven days a week, Mondays – Sundays, from 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.  Located on 1434 Tutor Lane on Evansville’s east side by the intersection of Burkhardt Road & Oak Groove Road, you can call (812) 477-THAI [8424].

Gift cards are also available as they make the perfect Holiday gift.  Private rooms are also available for parties and business meetings.  For more information, you can visit Thai Cuisine on-line at www.thaipapayacuisine.com.

     This week proves to be a special one for those working at one of Evansville’s oldest home owned, home grown family dining establishments – The Merry-Go-Round. From Monday, December 16^th until Wednesday, December 18^th the Merry-Go-Round will be hosting its 7^th annual “Visit with Santa” from 4pm until 8pm. Kids from ages one to ninety-two will have the opportunity to meet and speak with Santa Claus! Families will also have an opportunity to win a $50 Wal-Mart gift card as well as Merry-Go-Round gift certificates and other fun prizes for coming out.

Eric and his staff have reached out to many of the schools city wide from the north to south sides and have plans to reach out to the west side in the coming year. During their trips they gave each student from grades k – 3, approximately 6,000 in number, an invitation to join in the three day festivities at their diner. The students were invited to fill out wish lists for Santa and were encouraged to bring their invitations to receive a free cheeseburger, French fries and soft drink while they waited to sit on Santa’s lap.

Eric and his wife, Natalie, own the Merry-Go-Round and employ their entire family at the restaurant. They started the “Visit with Santa” program as a way for them and their staff to give back to the community that has supported their restaurant for nearly 70 years. “It’s awesome,” said Eric, “To see the look on the kids faces and to know that they are feeling truly special is just such a joy.” Past attendance of the event is evidence that the community is very honored and privileged to have such an outstanding corporative citizen in our midst.

Friday evening of the 20^th will feature a live performance by artist Abby Kunkle from 5:30 until 7:30 as well as half priced spaghetti dinners throughout the evening. This coming Saturday the 21^st the Merry-Go-Round will also be hosting its “Winter Cruise-in” event. From 4pm until the lights go out guests are invited to visit the diner and show off their vintage cars in the parking lot.

The Merry-Go-Round is located at 2101 N Fares Ave. on Old Business 41. Inquiries may also be directed to their staff by calling (812) 423-6388.

Posted: Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Ninety-one University of Evansville students will receive degrees during the Winter Commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. Wednesday, December 18 in the Student Fitness Center.

This year’s Winter Commencement speaker is Mark L. Valenzuela, associate professor of civil engineering, who received the 2013 Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award at May’s commencement ceremony. The University of Evansville Alumni Association presents this award annually to a faculty member who is nominated by students, faculty, or administrators for his or her exemplary teaching abilities. Valenzuela is the first UE faculty member to win this prestigious honor two times.

Valenzuela came to UE in 1999 and holds a PhD and Master of Science in structural engineering from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Engineering in civil and environmental engineering from Vanderbilt University. In addition to his teaching duties, Valenzuela advises several student organizations (including the Concrete Canoe team, which has qualified for nationals four times in the last five years) and is a registered professional engineer in the state of Indiana.

The Winter Commencement ceremony will also include the announcement of the recipient of the 2013 Exemplary Teacher Award, presented by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church.

Following the Winter Commencement ceremony, a reception sponsored by the UE Alumni Association will take place in the Class of 1959 Gallery and Lounge in the Ridgway University Center.

For those who cannot attend Winter Commencement in person, a video of the ceremony will stream live atwww.evansville.edu/commencement/live.cfm.

Drug-resistant H30-Rx strain can lead to blood infection, researchers say

TUESDAY, Dec. 17, 2013 (HealthDay News) — A single strain of antibiotic-resistant E. colibacteria has become the main cause of bacterial infections in women and the elderly worldwide over the past decade and poses a serious health threat, researchers report. Along with becoming more resistant to antibiotics, the “H30-Rx” strain developed the unprecedented ability to spread from the urinary tract to the bloodstream and cause an extremely dangerous infection called sepsis. This means that the H30-Rx stain poses a threat to the more than 10 million Americans who develop a urinary tract infection each year, according to the study authors. They said this strain of appears to be much more able than other E. coli strains to move from the bladder to the kidneys and then into the bloodstream. H30-Rx may be responsible for 1.5 million urinary tract infections and tens of thousands of deaths each year in the United States, according to the study published Dec. 17 in the journal MBio. Genetic analyses revealed how H30-Rx came into being. More than two decades ago, a strain called H30 developed mutations in two genes. This resulted in a clone called H30-R, which was resistant to the antibiotic Cipro. Soon after, H30-R gave rise to H30-Rx, which is resistant to several antibiotics. By focusing on H30-Rx, it might be possible to develop a vaccine that could prevent many infections, according to the study authors. “This strain of E. coli spreads from person to person, and seems to be particularly virulent,” study co-author James Johnson, of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Minnesota, said in a journal news release. “This study might help us develop better tools to identify, stop or prevent its spread by finding better ways to block the transmission of the superbug, or by finding a diagnostic test that would help doctors identify such an infection early on — before it might have the chance to turn lethal,” he explained. “We now know that we are dealing with a single enemy, and that by focusing on this strain we can have a substantial impact on this worldwide epidemic,” study co-author Evgeni Sokurenko, of the University of Washington School of Medicine, said in the news release.

GOV’T MULE

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST, 2014

VICTORY THEATRE – EVANSVILLE, IN

(Evansville, IN) – Few bands have a reputation for making music as consistently honest, organic and daring as Gov’t Mule. Now the enduring group fronted by visionary singer-guitarist Warren Haynes returned with their first album in four years — their Blue Note Records debut Shout!, a breath-taking, exploratory double-disc set released on September 17.

“This album puts a spotlight on the songs and the way that we interpret them, which hinges on the unique chemistry we’ve developed as a band,” explains Haynes, who along with Mule co-founder and drummer Matt Abts, multi-instrumentalist Danny Louis and bassist Jorgen Carlsson charted Shout!’s adventurous contours.

Shout!’s second disc shines a beam on a guest list of famed interpreters Elvis Costello, Dr. John, Ben Harper, Toots Hibbert, Glenn Hughes, Jim James, Myles Kennedy, Dave Matthews, Grace Potter, Ty Taylor and Steve Winwood, who each delivered an alternate vocal performance of one of the first disc’s new Gov’t Mule tunes.

“No one’s done this before, which is exciting,” says Haynes, “but it’s even more exciting actually listening to these artists sing our songs. Their performances bring new ideas, energy and sometimes even different meanings to every number.”

Gov’t Mule’s journey has been full of surprises. ”There’s no way I could have anticipated the way we’d grow when we started,” Haynes remarks. “Everyone in Gov’t Mule brings their own personality to the music, and we’re always looking for opportunities to expand and excite ourselves. Shout! is proof of that, as well as an album I could never have predicted we’d make even five years ago.”

In 2000, when founding bassist Allen Woody passed away, Haynes and Abts discussed the possibility of putting Gov’t Mule out to pasture. Instead the band went on to become part of the tradition they had always intended to honor. “That,” says Haynes, “is something we could only have dreamed to achieve and never expected in a million years.”

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20 | 10 A.M.

Reserved Seat Tickets: $27.50 advance / $35 DOS

Buy tickets at any of the following locations:

Ford Center Ticket Office | All Ticketmaster Locations | www.ticketmaster.com | (800) 745-3000