Metta Kaskel and Tipchutha Rangsira, Thai Rock
Did you know that New York City has the highest number of women entrepreneurs in our neighborhoods? According to New York City Small Business Services, women across the five boroughs employ over 190,000 people and generate approximately $50 billion in sales. This month, we’re proud to present our annual Women’s issue—dedicated to all the innovative women chefs, food entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, bakers, mixologists and more who help feed the borough everyday.
Coinciding with the print issue (you’ll be able to pick up a copy soon!), every weekday throughout the month of May, we’re featuring a different Queens woman in the food industry. From Flushing’s dumpling maestro Helen You, to Long Island City’s Brazilian baker, Daniela Martins-Schwarzbauer and Last Dragon Pizza’s Nicole Russell in Rockaway, each woman reflects the diverse and independent spirit of Queens. Oh, and did we mention that our woman-owned magazine produced this women’s issue with a team of all-women writers, photographers, illustrators, designers and editors (save for our photo editor, Ed Lefkowicz)? No big deal.
Metta Kaskel and Tipchutha Rangsira, Thai Rock
Upon moving to Rockaway from Manhattan in 2009, Metta Kaskel was wooed less by the crashing waves of the Atlantic than by a rather run-down edifice that once cloistered the Rockaway Lobster House, with sweeping views of Jamaica Bay. A world apart from the aggressively urban sprawl of Manhattan, it reminded her of the piano bar she’d owned in her native Thailand, and where her sister, Tipchitha Rangsira (more colloquially known as Karog), once cooked and sang.
Two years later, Kaskel and her husband launched the rollicking spot that would help usher in a Rockaway Beach food revolution. But unlike the transient stands that line the boardwalk in summer, Thai Rock is a year-round destination for both locals and visitors. Live music is a frequent occurrence; Kaskel and Rangsiras’ father is a celebrated Thai composer after all. And Karog keeps things sizzling in the kitchen. Look for crispy taro and peanut cakes, Northeastern-style sausages, khow soy curry and Mom’s Tom Yum fried rice.
