04/10/2018
After 13 Years we have decided to sell the restaurant.
There is no easy way to say goodbye.
If you include our time at Thai House restaurant in Loughborough our family has been serving Thai food in Loughborough for over twenty years.
Before I say thank you to everyone I want to tell you a little bit more about the family that has made Thai Grand everything it is over the last thirteen years.
My father-in-law is the head chef and it has been a labour of passion for him. He is an incredibly kind and generous man and now as he approaches retirement I hope you can appreciate how well he has tried to deliver his best everytime, day in and day out. Phiang made it his point to source ingredients locally wherever he could and has supported local businesses even though they might be a little bit more expensive. He is known well around the market as he goes about his business buying local fish or meat or vegetables.
Working with my wife (kanjana) on a daily basis has been challenging and beautiful in equal measures but I know she too has poured her heart and soul into working hard at Thai Grand. She always tried her best to get it right. She is bubbly, positive, happy and for the customers that tried to get to know her she is a soft and caring person. I have never known a person with a better memory for details and her recall of customers names and faces, what they ate, even where they last sat in the restaurant and what they wore is astonishing. I know that if she has ever been angry in the restaurant it was probably because of working with her husband and I am sure a few customers would recognise her calling "Paddy!" across the dining area as I spent too long talking to another customer.
Purn (my wife's sister) has worked tirelessly. She has always stepped up when asked to in every role. When someone in the family was sick with cancer she worked without complaint and always with a smile - even if that meant working seven days a week to get through those tough times. She has always supported the family and business and always been kind and gentle with the customers. She has stepped into the kitchen to help out when the kitchen needed extra staff and she even did the Thai dancing on our Thai New Year celebrations.
I know I speak for the family when I say we feel very sad to say goodbye to many of our customers that have become friends. We have grown up with many of our customers. After over twenty years with some regular customer we have literally grown old together. We have seen your amazing families grow up and your children turn into adults. In turn, our regular customers have seen us start our families and have our own children. We have shared stories, jokes and gossip! This will be the toughest part in walking away. That banter. Those friendships. The simple fact that there are so many beautiful people out there.
So I can finally say THANK YOU. Without you 13 years would never have happened. We needed you to make our business a success. We have loved every minute of it. We would not change a thing and we all want to say from the bottom of our hearts that we love so many of you. Thank you for helping make our dream come true.
To all our staff that have helped over the years. To all the students that have come in and worked for us while they studied at Loughborough University. We have some amazing friends from that. Your support will always be remembered and our love for you will never diminish.
Their are several people I need to name directly. Derek Moore. Without your help we would never have opened Thai Grand. Richard Waldren thank you for giving us the chance to move on from Thai House and open Thai Grand. Pritesh K Symonds-Patel you have always been the bestest of friends and willing to help without hesitation.Thank you. Julie Marie Jamieson To Ian and yourself Julie thank you for your friendship. Thank your visiting in hospital. And to anyone that I have missed in this list. I have not intentionally left anyone out.
I will sign off with one last thought. I miss several of our customers that have passed away during our time at Thai Grand. Particularly Mr Williamson who to this day was my favourite customer. He always had a smile. Always asked about everything in our life. Always had a joke and always made me laugh. He came in every week and always recommended Thai Grand to everybody. But most of all I counted him as a friend.
Mr Charlston is a close second and another beautiful person that picked up a takeaway nearly every week. I miss our chats. I send up a prayer for these two wonderful people that I was blessed to know.
Like I said it is not easy to say goodbye. I sit here with tears pouring down my face. I have probably become over sentimental but after giving thirteen years to a project you love writing this was always going to make me cry.
we love you. we thank you.
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