Quirky Business
I went to Thai X-ing, and it has been a while for me as I've been making more of my own meals and cooking up ingredients from the Bloomingdale Farmers Market. Since opening back in 2005 getting your food isn't measured in hours any more. Taw has gotten help, made some changes, and if I order early enough, I get my food around the estimated time. In time some of us have learned to tolerate/love Thai X-ing's quirks. With those quirks, others, have managed to work with Taw's flexible, if not super easygoing nature, to transform the little hole in the wall eatery. It isn't like your average Thai restaurant or carryout. I've been in it at times when the best description is 'your friend's friend's basement apartment living room that happens to have a guy cooking Thai food in the back.'Timor Bodega is another quirky business, and it's been open for about a year and a half and is still figuring itself out. It's not like your usual quickie mart, in that it lacks cigarettes, Lotto, and 5 kinds of MD 20/20, the big money makers. Nor is it a chi-chi wine and cheese shop, mainly because of the minimal amount of cheese, which may or may not change. I hung out with the owner this past weekend and learned a bit about the Timor and its quirks. Kim, the owner, does some small scale coffee roasting for customers, but doesn't heavily promote this service. The store does experiment with various new products, like the duck eggs (good for when you're aiming for thickness). I guess I can't avoid mentioning the least popular quirk, the post-robbery closed gate during business hours thing. Kim's reasoning on doing this has less to do with the crime (where they only got $50, and sadly there was another sort-of attempt by some 15 yr olds) and more to do with business being slow on beautiful days. Besides he's usually 15-20 seconds away. But there are things about Timor that make it a neighborhood jewel. For me it is and always has been the milk and the rich cream. It is also the local eggs, the granola, and the wines, of which Kim can talk about, if you ask him. It will be interesting to see what Timor will look like in a year and what it will be carrying. Maybe more cheese and cured meats?
Labels: Bloomingdale/Eckington, business
posted by Mari @ 1.7.09
3 Comments:
I have a kegerator and every few months, when I need a refill, Kim gets me a keg of fancy beer from his suppliers and keeps it in the fridge until I come by and get it. He gives me the same price as other stores that sell kegs (Wagners in G-town), and he makes a little money. He's great. Timor Bodega is great.
Also, do you know if Taw is still moving to a restaurant space near 9th and U? Based on what he told me a while back (they are building out the space), he should be there by now. Selfishly, I don't want to see him move farther away, but I know that if he has a real restaurant space, it'll be successful, because there's nothing like his food in the city.
Taw was still in that basement yesterday, when I picked up my food. I remember when he and Brian (Son of Clarence) were talking about moving but so far he still on Florida Ave.
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