Dust Jacket Dispatch

Chef Monis putting the final touch on a dish at Dupont’s Little Serow

For years I’ve longed for the ability to dine at world renown chef Johnny Monis’ Komi. It’s consistently haunted me from atop the Washingtonian Top 100 list, but being a man of only moderate means the $150 prix fixe menu has kept me at bay. Recently, however, Monis has expanded and opened a new restaurant right next door. Little Serow strays from the Mediterranian fare that Monis has made his mark with and instead focuses on the fiery flavors of Northern Thailand and Laos.

And I am pleased to say that for $45 dollars, I may have eaten the best meal I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying in Washington D.C.

The first thing you need to know about Little Serow is that

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Destination Koh Phangan, Thailand

It’s a country shrouded in mystery. A land with an ancient feeling in its air, so rich it’s palpable. Thailand is a nation unlike any I’ve seen before and for the past two weeks, I have had the pleasure of spending my time on a remote island in the Gulf of Thailand known as Koh Phangan.

The island itself is fairly famous and possibly for all the wrong reasons.

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Sometimes It’s Better To Go At It Alone

It was only a few weeks ago that I was at a random party (the typical type—bustling with a variety of spirits and small talk) and while chatting with a few friends, one of them moaned “I just feel soa-lone.” That particular person had recently broken up with their significant other and was going through a bit of a rough patch in finding a direct correlation with the emptiness they noticed on the other half of their mattress with what they felt within themselves. And though their significant other sounded like a hideous individual who had done far too much wrong to possibly ever right it, the void—the loneliness—was driving this person at the party to contemplate taking them back. “I’m just not good at being single,” they added. “I don’t want to be alone again.”

As I write this, I’m sitting on a beautiful stone patio overlooking the majestic blue-green waters of Thailand. In truth, I’m not even on the mainland, I’m on a small, sparsely-inhabited island. And to make matters seemingly worse, I’m alone—will be for the next month.

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