We have entered a new era of the legendary local restaurant Lotus of Siam. Its latest location, at Red Rock Resort, opened in November, engineered by second-generation restaurateur Penny Chutima—daughter of James Beard Award-winning chef Saipin Chutima—and local hospitality veteran Lou Abin. It’s the first project for the duo’s new Bua Food Group, which is also gearing up to open Greek seafood-focused concepts Naxos Taverna and Kallisto Oyster Bar at the Summerlin resort in the coming months.
The genesis of these developments began in 2017, when Penny Chutima had moved away from the family business and was working to finish law school in California when the roof at the original Lotus of Siam collapsed, forcing the restaurant’s closure. She came back to Las Vegas to help straighten out its future and ended up “falling more in love with the business,” shifting back to hospitality with a new focus.
After growing up with Lotus of Siam, what has been it like to develop new, different restaurant concepts? Definitely exciting. When I was a lot younger, the restaurant business was not my forte. I didn’t want anything to do with it. But growing up and seeing how my parents worked so hard on this restaurant and trying to showcase their product to the world made me think of it in a different light. And I love to eat, so it was definitely a great opportunity when it came to opening [a restaurant] with a different style of food.
What lead you to focus on Greek cuisine for the new concepts? When Lou [Abin] and I started working on [other concepts], we realized it’s very rare to find Greek food in a different realm. We’ve always seen a type of this cuisine that’s more targeting Mediterranean than hard Greek. We have a really good one already in Las Vegas with [Estiatorio] Milos, and there’s another one [Elia Taverna] on Sahara. It’s one of those things that I feel like Vegas needs. When I went to Chicago, there was a Greek spot on every corner, and none of them are the same.
Perhaps the city needs a bit of an education on Greek food the same way it once did on Thai food? I would agree with that. When we first came [to town with Lotus of Siam], a lot of the guests who came in only knew of pad Thai and som tam, maybe coconut soup. It’s always an eye-opening experience to see different guests and other cultures adapt and expand their horizons.
Do your parents give you advice on the restaurant biz? Oh yeah, 100%. Both of my parents are first-generation immigrants, and they tend to stay on the cautious side, and I always look at that side, to be cautious with what I do in business and not be careless. I talk to them quite often. My dad was a finance major, so it’s been an education not only in how to open a restaurant but also on the finance side.
Lotus has always been something of a restaurant in its own category. How important is it to you to carry on that legacy? It’s one of my top priorities, especially with my mother’s brand. I watched where my mom came from and what she had to endure to get to this point, and [continuing] that is definitely something I want to pursue. In the beginning it was like a hobby, and now it’s become my goal. My mom is literally the American dream. She came here on a plane and never knew how to speak English, and she’s made it this far. Her English is getting better, but she doesn’t really need it.
What’s the status of the other locations of Lotus of Siam? The Flamingo Road restaurant is set to close when the original Sahara location reopens. We’re aiming for ... the first quarter of 2023. It will be great to get Sahara open again, especially since that plaza [Commercial Center] has changed a lot in the last few years.
The new Red Rock restaurant has a very different feel than the previous locations. Red Rock has a different vibe—it caters a bit more to a late-night crowd, and hopefully we’ll see that grow on the weekends. When industry people get off work at 11 or 12, there’s not much [in the area] to go out to eat anymore, especially after COVID, so we’re trying to make that happen. We’re also planning to do a party brunch, and hopefully launch that in the wintertime.
Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!
