Our Story
Photo by Paul Octavious
femininity meets grit,
the beginnings of Pink Salt
Palita Sriratana started Pink Salt start as a stall in the Fulton Galley Food Hall on Chicago’s famed restaurant row in 2019. Having only staged at Au Cheval and Nico Osteria in the Chicago, opening and running a restaurant was a leap. Using the space as a launch pad, Pink Salt quickly became one of the city’s most sought after Thai establishments. Transitioning to a pop-up series during the pandemic, Pink Salt dove deeper into exploring regional cuisines and the many nuances that come with Thai food. Reviving traditions and making new ones, Pink Salt hand crafted sauces and pastes to bring the menus to life. When customers asked to take home sauces extra sauces, she happily obliged as they were a labor of love. Pink Salt continues to operate as a supper club and dinner series and continues to take over exciting places all over the city such as Soho House, Blind Barber, Nine Bar, Longman & Eagle, Ramen-San, and Lululemon just to name a few.
Photo Left by Felton Kizer
Meet our founder
I am a proud second generation Thai and self taught cook. Born in central Illinois, I spent my all of my summers growing up outside of Bangkok with extended family learning how to cook. Staying with my mom’s family in “suan” life, a riverside culture filled with slow food as tradition, I was immersed with dishes and practices that are becoming harder and harder to find. Every year, I would return to home in America, practicing, researching, and honestly obsessing over ways I could recreate dishes I had in Thailand. When I was 8, I wrote a cookbook with my colored pencils but that didn’t get published.
Despite my career changes , I always came back to food. Food helps me connect with my identity. To me it is a form of love, without words, without judgment, and nourishment to those who matter most. I created Nam Prik Pao because I wanted a sauce that celebrated Thai flavors, so I could bring it with me anywhere.
Photo Left, by Anna Jungwha
#hotsauceinmybagswag
