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Food

Join us for a Lao summer feast at one of our favorite Dallas restaurants, Khao Noodle Shop

Khao Noodle Shop in East Dallas will cook a celebratory summer menu for the Dallas Morning News' EatDrinkInsider dinner series.

Some of the most luscious things you can eat in Dallas can be found at a tiny Lao noodle shop with a mere 28 seats — stools, actually — in a storefront on the east side of town.

Of course, you know I'm taking about Khao Noodle Shop, a mighty little restaurant that has basked in glowing reviews, including my own three-star rave, since it opened a mere nine months ago. Last month, Khao hit the national radar, too, when it was named one of Eater's 16 Best New Restaurants in America, the first Dallas restaurant on the list since it started in 2015.

Chef Donny Sirisavath's menu is small and intensely personal, filled with inspired variations on the home cooking of his mother, who arrived in San Antonio as a Laotian refugee in the 1980s. He opened the restaurant as a tribute to her, and now, as part of The Dallas Morning News' EatDrinkInsider series, he is cooking a special summer menu that's even closer to home.

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On Monday, Aug. 19, we'll be taking over the restaurant for a Lao summer barbecue, "something close to my heart and to my memories," Sirisavath says of the celebratory dishes his mother made for family, or for 60 or 70 friends. "This is what Lao culture is about, bringing everyone together in summertime."

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After cocktails and appetizers such as pate made with Thai rum, Sirisavath will make a series of summer Laotian barbecue platters — all served family style, and none from his regular menu.

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There is a savory green mango and papaya salad with vermicelli noodles, seasonal vegetables and fresh herbs, sticky rice and pork rinds. Grilled brisket marinated with lemongrass and kaffir lime. Cold-smoked beef tongue with herbs, galangal and cilantro root. Grilled shrimp - with luck, sweet river prawns from Thailand. Cured house-made sausage, made with Chubby Dog Farm pork, house-made fish sauce called padaek, and lemongrass, all wrapped in a banana leaf to cure.

Each course will be paired with wine from Bar and Garden, the natural wine shop nearby on Ross Avenue, with selections that highlight the funky, umami-filled flavors. And of course, there will be dessert, too.

If you've found Khao's menu as tantalizing as I have, the dinner promises to take you even further into the cuisine and the culture.

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"I want this dinner to educate," Sirisavath says. "This is what Lao food is really about: Coming together, enjoying a meal together, enjoying things for the same plate."

Details

Tickets are $141 per person, including cocktails and appetizers, dinner, wine pairings, tax and tip. They are available at edikhaonoodleshop.splashthat.com.