Several New Restaurants Help Satisfy Local Appetites For Asian Food

All right, out there. No more whining about the lack of Asian restaurants! Three have opened their doors in the past few months, and at least two more (both specializing in Thai food) will open in the next few weeks.

The Dragon House opened in early March in the former Rax building at 420 W. Appleway, Coeur d’Alene. Not a small operation, the restaurant seats 120 people and employs about 45. Serving Chinese regional specialties - including Mandarin, Taiwanese and Szechaun and American dishes - the business is open 11 a.m. to midnight daily.

Owned by a small group of principals, Dragon House is managed by Ken Chen. His brother Kengee Chen is primary chef. Formerly associated with the Chinese Garden Restaurant on Fourth Street, the Chens came to Spokane with their family from Taiwan in the late 1980s. They purchased the Rax building from Henry and Rhonda Covelli.

Other Asian restaurants opening in the past few months are the Cathay Inn East and Teriyaki Express, both in Post Falls. They were featured in recent columns.

Now let’s get to the peanut sauce.

Coeur d’Alene’s first Thai restaurant will be Mad Mary’s Oriental Express, located in the former Donut Mill building at 1801 Sherman Ave. The building has housed a series of restaurants since it first opened as a Topper drive-in in the 1950s.

Aree Cameron, a Thailand native, is “Mad Mary” and head chef, according to her husband, Tim Cameron. A Silver Valley native, he met Aree and business partner Bill Colacurcio III (also of Silver Valley roots) when all three resided in New Orleans in the 1980s.

“Aree’s authentic Thai cooking is so good that we wanted to start a restaurant in North Idaho,” Tim Cameron said.

Open 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday (Sundays are off for church and fishing), the restaurant will seat 44 people at booths and tables and also will offer a takeout window.

Offering exotic Thai and Asian cuisine, the

Thai Palace will open in early May in Appleway Square at Appleway and Highway 95, Coeur d’Alene. The 4,700-square-foot, 150-seat restaurant originally was The Ritz Cafe and most recently was Cosgrove’s QSC restaurant.

New owners are Pat and Don Chitlungsei, who came to New York from Thailand 12 years ago and now have the Seeda Restaurant in Seattle. They plan to move to North Idaho and maintain ownership of the Seattle business.

“They were looking for a drier area and they have friends here,” said Steve Berke of Horizon Realty, which arranged the purchase of Joe Cosgrove’s former business with Beebe, McKernan & McCarty Realtors.

“Their dishes will be fresh, made-to-order individually,” Berke said. “It’s different from Chinese food; it has its own flavorings.”

The Thai Palace will offer lunch and dinner daily. Other amenities will include a take-out service and hosting private parties and meetings. Appleway Square is owned by the Magnuson family.

No. The Red Lobster is not buying the Appleway-Fourth Street property comprised of Heathcliff’s, Taco John’s, Chelsea’s and the large vacant corner piece.

Red Lobster is purchasing only Chelsea’s liquor license and still will build a new restaurant on Neider Avenue just south of Kmart. Once again, the property is owned by the Magnuson family.

Chelsea’s will close Friday, according to owner Terry Kaiser, who sold the building to an investor. The building will become Bruchi’s, a Spokane-based sandwich shop. The company has 14 outlets and probably will employ about 10 people at the Coeur d’Alene franchise.

“Rodeway Inn” is the new name on the sign of the former Pines Motel on Northwest Boulevard, Coeur d’Alene. Owners Ivar and Renate Kljavin have joined the Choice Hotels International franchise system. The official name of the 65-room motel is the Rodeway Inn Pines Resort.

The Choice computer reservation system offers 3,000 locations of Comfort, Quality, Econo Lodge, Clarion, Rodeway, Friendship and Sleep motels and hotels.

Originally from Estonia and Austria respectively, Ivar and Renate met in Guam and came to the United States in 1949. They came to North Idaho from Boise. They also own the neighboring Pines Restaurant.

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Nils Rosdahl The Spokesman-Review