Lauren Drewes Daniels
Audio By Carbonatix
When a chef with multiple TV appearances and a shiny new James Beard nomination talks about one of her favorite restaurants in the city, particularly about “the best pad Thai,” your ears perk up.
Tiffany Derry started her culinary career at an International House of Pancakes at 15 years old and worked her way up to a management position. After graduating from high school in Beaumont, she attended culinary school at The Art Institute of Houston. After competing on Top Chef season 7 in 2010, where she placed fifth and was voted fan favorite, she opened her own restaurant PrivateSocial in Dallas in 2013.
Since then, Derry has appeared on multiple TV shows, has opened Roots Chicken Shack and, most notably, a beautiful new restaurant, Roots Southern Table in Farmers Branch, which is an ode to Southern cooking and hospitality. This year that restaurant was nominated by the James Beard Foundation as one of the best new restaurants, and Derry was nominated for best chef in Texas.
She also recently partnered with American Airlines and the the Beard Foundation for a swank restaurant and lounge at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport called Flagship Lounge, which is where we caught up with her. When asked what restaurants she’s been enjoying lately, our interest was piqued when she said she’s been going to the same Thai spot for years and that it has the “best pad Thai in the city.”
The kitchen at ZENse; when orders are ready that red bell gets a swift pop.
Lauren Drewes Daniels
ZENse opened in Valley Ranch 17 years ago. Three sisters, Vem, Kak and Joy Bhuntavee run both the front and back of the house. They learned everything they know about cooking and hospitality at home in Thailand. The restaurant sits in a strip mall with a few Indian restaurants nearby. Inside, it’s an inviting space with regulars packing in for lunch, and there’s a steady tick of to-go orders picked up near the cash register.
When Derry was digging through plates of their pad Thai years ago and inquired about ingredients and techniques, they had no idea who she was. Before long, she was back in the kitchen with them. The first day she cooked with them for five hours. The next week she returned for a full five-day stage. Derry remembers tossing the large wok over the flame and they told her she needed to more hip into it.
An appetizer of fried tofu and sweet potato.
Lauren Drewes Daniels
The menu at ZENse consists of noodles, rice dishes, stir fries and curries with some house specialties. They have lunch specials, weekdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A mild panang with roasted peanut curry paste, kaffir lime leaves and basil at $11.99 might be one of the best lunches in the city.
Under a section on the menu titled Fearless Foodie there’s a Ka-Prow Spaghetti made with shrimp, tomato, broccoli and basil in a chili garlic sauce ($14.99). A house favorite is a green curry fried rice egg wrap made with a tissue-thin egg pancake that swaddles a mound of light-green chicken and rice. A “spicylicous” Jungle Curry has a water-based curry with mixed vegetables and basil.
We started with a plate of twice-fried sweet potatoes and tofu served with a small bowl of sweet chili sauce and crushed peanuts. Later, leftover pieces tossed into the pad Thai pumped it up a bit.
The pad Thai here might not look like a huge serving, but it’s enough for more than one meal if you can stop eating it.
Lauren Drewes Daniels
And, yes, the pad Thai here is amazing. The one word that keeps coming to mind is “bright”: in flavor, texture, heat and freshness. Wok-tossed rice noodles, vegetables and tofu carry a thin coat of tamarind sauce that thankfully isn’t too sweet. Peanuts and bits of crispy wonton give each bit a different texture. Vegetables and blocks of seared tofu are a just touch crisp on the outside.
Derry suggested diners work down one spice level; they have no spice, mild, medium or hot. Around us, diners went for very hot (off the chart?) to no spice at all. We went for mild to make sure we didn’t jump into the deep end of the pool and miss flavors while flailing around. We’d say it had spice but not heat.
A full serving is a big meal for lunch, especially if you pair it with an appetizer. (Derry also recommended the tom kha kai soup.) The leftovers were perfect for dinner later, which a kid nabbed after school. That’s my fault for not hiding it in the vegetable bin. Now that kid wants to know why they haven’t had pad Thai before and when can have more. If a kid wants more pad Thai and it’s for their nutrition then how could one say no?
ZENse, 8600 N. MacArthur Blvd (Irving). 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday – Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Closed Sunday
