New restaurant: Thai native uses grandma's recipes for noodles, curries, fried rice dishes
A native of Thailand has opened a new restaurant to share her grandmother’s recipes.
Jutiyapond “Julie” McCarthy opened Thai Smile Restaurant on U.S. 1 in Sebastian, just north of Riverview Park, on Sept. 22. It’s the previous location of Bowls of Sebastian, which closed in April 2022 after less than a year.
When McCarthy came to the U.S. in 1999, she didn’t know what to do for work. All she had were recipes she learned from her grandmother, so she decided to open a Thai restaurant.
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She moved to Florida from Grand Rapids, Michigan, in June 2022 and opened Thai Esan Zabb Sushi in Vero Beach a month later.
McCarthy sold the business this August and moved to Sebastian. She said it was more affordable and bought a house there.
“I love the beach,” McCarthy said. “I like this town.”
The Asian food restaurant combines cuisines from Thailand and Japan because she added sushi rolls to the menu. Her son, Paul, who’s the chef at Thai Smile, previously worked in New York City and learned how to make sushi.
Appetizers include Thai spring rolls, crab ragoons, hot wings and chicken satay. The most popular soup is the kao soi ($15.95-$21.95), or noodle curry with rice noodles, onions, scallions and cilantro, flavored in coconut curry and topped with crispy noodles.
The menu includes a variety of entrees ($13.95-$17.95), fried rice options, curry choices and noodle dishes, such as pad see eew, lo mein and pad Thai. The price varies depending on the choice of meat: chicken, tofu or vegetable; beef, shrimp, scallop or squid; or a seafood combination.
Duck specials ($25.95) include the popular basil duck with sauteed with onions, bell peppers and basil leaves in Chef Paul’s homemade Thai sauce.
One of Chef Paul’s Specials is the seafood amazing ($19.95) is a combination of seafood stir-fried with onions, carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms and basil.
The menu also includes poke bowls, sushimi platters and sushi boats. The deep-fried tempura sushi roll is her favorite.
“I like it,” McCarthy said. “I love it.”
Thai Smile
Address: 709 U.S. 1, Sebastian
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday)
Phone: 772-571-5973
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter and columnist dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Follow her on Twitter @TCPalmLaurie and Facebook @TCPalmLaurie. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: New restaurant: Thai Smile in Sebastian has Thai food, sushi, noodles
