Siam Society stands as the site of a former power substation, although it appears from the outside to be more of a Masonic temple. Even with all the industrial style and high-ceilinged capaciousness, the restaurant interior feels cozy as a curtained dinner at the palace. Though the menu is Thai in outlook, chef-owner Adrienne Innskeep brings traditional ingredients into congress with ideas from the continent and ingredients from the Northwest: quail in Thai spices, lightly piquant lychee/green bean salad, lamb curries served with cucumber-jalapeño chutney. The resulting mixture feels less like a dignitaries’ dinner than slow-burning sex, the kind where you know you’re eventually going to knock over those heirloom candlesticks. Helping this feeling along are the Society’s unique potables, in particular the hibiscus mojito.
IDEAL MEAL: Start with the lychee salad and move on to the signature five-day banana-roasted pork, paired with the scallops pan-seared in Brazilian dende oil. Drink liberally, and take your partner directly home to scented sheets.
