Help Rice and Noodle Restaurant

Rice and Noodle opened in Encino, CA in late 2018; since then, chef and owner, Kwan Chotikulthanachi, has brought her soulful cooking and infectious spirit to her little restaurant in the Valley. When the pandemic hit, Kwan did everything she could to keep her employees on staff and continue feeding the neighborhood (and her two young sons), but the year-long closure of offices in the area led to a 60% hit to her bottom line (not to mention the 30% fee demanded by delivery apps). She spent all her profits from the previous year keeping her staff on payroll, but she was finally forced to let them all go by the end of 2020. Her partner, Sone (an accomplished sushi chef), had to join her in the kitchen, meaning that they would now have to raise their two boys in the restaurant. As the pandemic raged on, and businesses remained shuttered, Kwan fell behind on rent and her lease was not renewed by her new landlord.

Thankfully, with our backers' help, Kwan was able to land on her feet! She's found a new space for Rice and Noodle in Van Nuys, but her former landlord is still coming after her for outstanding debts and threatening to sue for not paying her full rent in the middle of a pandemic! He even refused to let her keep the new stove and cooking vents that she installed at her previous location, which cost Kwan over $10K!

Kwan is one of the most positive and hard-working people you will ever meet. Cooking is everything to her; she likes to say that she "puts her soul into each dish." If you haven't tasted her Hot Chicken Bao, you're missing out on one of the best bites of food in LA. Prior to opening Rice and Noodle, Kwan and Sone traveled the United States for four years in an RV on behalf of the Thai government, tracking down the best Thai recipes in the country. Unfortunately the promised cookbook deal fell through when the publisher went bankrupt, but Kwan forged ahead and used her culinary knowledge to open Rice and Noodle.

If you can pitch in anything to help pay down Kwan's restaurant debt and legal fees, any amount helps.

This GoFundMe was started by local residents with Kwan's blessing, and she would like to thank you for letting her feed you these past two-plus years.