Thai Red Chili's Restaurant 9th year anniversary celebration

Today my husband surprised me by waking me up from my late slumber and ordering me to get up and get ready. While I was thinking he couldn't have been more rude, the question, why, came out. He is not a morning person so either it was an emergency or the fabled zombie apocalypse had happened. Neither had happened. He had simply won a reservation at a restaurant for us both and we were going to be late.

Food at a restaurant I'd never heard of?

I'm there!

We entered the restaurant and the pleasant hostess greeted us at the door. Our reservation was confirmed and we were told to sit where we pleased. Much to our delight we saw my husband's best friend. We were promptly asked what type of beverage we would like to drink. We were given two options, water or Thai iced tea. I of course requested something I had never tried before, the Thai iced tea, while my husband played it safe with water. I must say the tea was absolutely delicious, the best I've tasted so far! I'm quite the tea fanatic; you can take my word for it. After settling our drink orders we were told the owners were waiting on a Buddhist monk to commence the celebration. He was to be offered food and a blessing from him would follow. While we were waiting they informed us the monk was coming from Corpus Christi, TX. The owner lifted up a bag and asked if we could make a small donation for the monk, as he had come and did not ask for money. This charity was to be given to him at the end of the celebration. We waited about ten minutes until we saw the monk coming through the door. He said hi to everyone and then sat in an assigned seat. The owners and close people to them were sitting with them and the monk was in the middle of them all.

Once seated he began to say things, almost in a chant, and the people that understood would respond. After a while they began to pray together. Everyone who didn't understand would look on and listened. It was about ten minutes, after that the owners stood up and thanked the people for attending the anniversary. We were also informed that the monk would be going around the restaurant blessing the attendees. Here are some blurry pictures.

After the monk finished blessing the attendees the owners presented him with a plate of food. He thanked them and prayed in unison. The owners signaled to the waiters and they began to lead people per table to the food line. Once of the owners stood up and told us there were a different variety of dishes they had prepared. We waited our turn. When the food was introduced to us it looked just as appetizing as it smelled. The waiters handed us plated and we would go down the line. They prompted us to try all the dishes but there were far too many for one plate. After gathering our meals we sat and enjoyed. The dishes were excellent and bursting with flavors!  I cannot say I didn't enjoy one dish. However, my two favorites were, Pad Basil and Pad Thai. A while after we saw the monk make his way to the entrance. He started to paste white circular stickers on the glass facing the door. I inquired what this meant but the only answer received was an unsure one, which I will not say as it may be incorrect and I would not want to deceive. I've yet to find out what it means but if anyone knows an explanation it would be appreciated if told.

The monk finished placing the stickers and he began to bid farewell. Before he left the owners presented him with the donation bag. He looked surprised and was very grateful. He made his way out as he said goodbye to everyone.

It was a wonderful experience and I highly valued the spirituality of it all. The food was absolutely delicious!

With love,
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