Building on the success of her popular Thai restaurant in Arlington, a Centreville resident plans to open another restaurant this spring — this time, much closer to home.
Nutthana “Nancy” Kittitaraphan, the owner of Soul Thai Kitchen & Bar on Wilson Blvd, will open the doors of Surreal Thai Kitchen & Bar at 5653 Stone Road in Centreville’s busy Village Center shopping plaza around April 3.
“I wanted to come back to supporting my community,” she said.
The first two weeks will be a soft opening, with the business focusing on getting the word out to residents in nearby neighborhoods.
Renovations at the Stone Road location — which, until recently, was home to an unaffiliated restaurant, Thai Kitchen — have been underway since February, Kittitaraphan said.
But planning for the traditional, comfort-style foods on Surreal’s menu has been in progress for far longer.
Staff at Kittitaaraphan’s Arlington location — which opened in late 2023 and recently took second place for best Thai food in the “ARLnow Reader’s Choice” poll run by FFXnow’s sister site — tested out recipes for Surreal with monthly specials. Ultimately, they selected the most successful to include on the new menu.
One of the restaurant’s signature dishes will be beef stew massaman curry, a homemade creamy dish with cubes of meat, potatoes, onions, and roasted peanuts simmered in coconut milk. Kittitaraphan also recommends the spicy and herb seafood (pad cha), a dish seasoned with the restaurant’s house spicy chili sauce.
The bar will be stocked with a large selection of mocktails, with everything from a blueberry sour to a blue Hawaiian made with pineapple juice, lemonade, blue curacao syrup and coconut cream.
Though it’s linked to the restaurant in Arlington, Surreal Thai will still be distinct, with a wider range of spices and flavors inspired by other Asian communities with a presence in the local area, Kittitaraphan said. Approximately 28.7% of Centreville’s 73,518 residents identify as Asian, according to U.S. Census data.
“It’s a new business, different from Arlington,” Kittitaraphan said.
Kittitaraphan said that her goal over the last month and a half was to create a warm, cozy atmosphere for patrons.
“People can come to talk and drink and eat, and it’s like for the family,” she said.
The headline for this story has been updated to avoid confusion with the restaurant that previously occupied the Surreal Thai Kitchen and Bar space, which was called Thai Kitchen but has no connection to the new business.
