Thai fire

Hed 11 (Japantown)

RESTAURANTS • First Person

One-time Thai television star and beauty pageant queen Billie Wannajaro had ambitions to open a Michelin-star-worthy Thai restaurant in San Francisco, and she has done just that with Hed 11 in Japantown. Opened in the recently remodeled Kimpton Enso Hotel, Hed 11 offers a seasonal tasting menu of (yes) 11 dishes for $185 per, spread across six courses. In its current iteration, the menu’s focus is on seafood and the cuisines of southern Thailand.

The restaurant is sparsely decorated in modernist in dark wood tones, with an entrance separate from the hotel on Buchanan Street, and a small bar where the full menu is also served.

Bringing experience from the Michelin-starred kitchens of Saawaan and Bo.lan in Bangkok, chef Piriya “Saint” Boonprasarn explores the full spectrum of Thai flavors, delivered via an array of thoughtful dishes — like a seared scallop with pineapple and coconut curry, a fried egg roll stuffed with rich and tender beef khao soi, and a dish of funky-sweet fermented cabbage with dried shrimp.

Several composed starters are followed by a khao gaeng course — literally “curry over rice” — that includes six wildly flavorful dishes, not all curries. Among them is an excellent lingcod soup with taro and mushroom, and perhaps the spiciest (but most delicious) crab curry in recent memory, with layers of kaffir lime, chili heat, and ocean-floor umami.

Meanwhile, a wine pairing yielded unique selections like a natural, Alsatian-style orange from Paso Robles-based Union Sacré. Cocktails include a gin and tonic variation with pandan and lemongrass — like everything else Hed 11 has on offer, another brilliant reach into the great, wide vocabulary of Thai flavors. –Jay Barmann

→ Hed 11 (Japantown) • 1800 Sutter St (enter on Buchanan) • Tues-Sun 5-10p • Reserve.