For almost 3 years, the only way you could try Dao Chanthalansy’s super-authentic Lao cooking was either through his apartment-hosted dinners (Lao Supper Club), by ordering weekend pickup and delivery, or dropping by his limited-time pop-up events. Now, the chef behind Lao Supper Club is finally opening his first storefront, LAO Food Co., inside Milkcow Cafe.
“It’s been a long journey of figuring out what to do with my food and how to share it with people,” says Chanthalansy. “This was basically my next step, just continuing on and sharing my cooking on a bit of a bigger platform each time.”
Though well-known by now for helping to introduce traditional Lao flavours to Toronto, where the cuisine has long been scarce, Chanthalansy started his supper club as a small condo-based operation that brought several of his Instagram followers to sample his food.
After three successful supper club gatherings, Chanthalansy launched into his own studio on Dundas West, where he continued to cook takeout meals for customers throughout the start of the pandemic.
“I was pumping out Nam Khao [crispy rice salad] and Sakoo Yat Sai dumplings every weekend during that time,” he recalls.
You might remember Chanthalansy’s Sichuan sausages on the menu of Sunny’s Chinese, another pop-up concept from the team that later opened MIMI Chinese. His Lao sausages and papaya salad were also available for a limited time at stackt market’s superette, Auntie’s Supply.
At Milkcow Cafe, Chanthalansy will be making his famous Sai Oua sausages, jeow sauce, and papaya salad, as well as some other traditional Lao items and desserts.
While this storefront will keep him busy enough, Chanthalansy will still be taking orders for his weekly Sunday delivery services, where he creates entire traditional Lao meals to be enjoyed at home.
Chanthalansy and his traditional Lao dishes will be found inside Milkcow Cafe at 2651 Yonge Street within the next week or two. He’ll be working out of the cafe Mondays through Fridays, from 6 p.m. to late. Look for an official opening announcement on his Instagram, and order your Lao feast at home for Sunday deliveries through his website.
