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Thai Room restaurant is a product of love, labor

To get it right, the couple who are opening Hernando County's second Thai restaurant are acting as their own contractor, designer and staff.

By LOGAN NEILL
Published July 11, 2006

SPRING HILL - Vern and Arromsri Hessler are hoping in a couple of weeks that most of the backbreaking work, the headaches and the uncertainty of launching a new Thai restaurant will be mostly behind them.

Then they will be able to concentrate on the real task at hand: welcoming guests in the Thai tradition of friendly smiles and savory cuisine.

The Thai Room, slated to open Aug. 1, is more than just a restaurant to its owners. It is the culmination of a longtime dream - and not one that was easy to make come true.

"We had more of our share of hoops to jump through," said Vern Hessler, 60, who undertook the responsibility of acting as his own contractor for the new 65-seat establishment at 9970 Cortez Blvd.

From pulling permits to hand-setting decorative tiles imported from Thailand, Hessler figured that he has more sweat equity in his venture than any other restaurateur in Hernando County.

"I've always considered myself a take-charge kind of guy," Hessler said last week as he took a brief break from installing a refrigerator. "We wanted things done a certain way, and it just seemed to me that in order to do that, I had to be personally involved from start to finish."

Things didn't get off to a smooth start. Long before the slab could be poured, Hessler had to satisfy numerous conditions with the county and other regulating authorities.

There were times when answers to questions were difficult to obtain. For instance, the county building department ruled that the property was not in a flood-prone area. However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which underwrites flood insurance, disagreed, forcing Hessler to revise his plans and to add more fill dirt to comply with FEMA rules.

Hessler said he was forced to make numerous changes in the septic and fire protection systems. And because the edifice also will contain separate living quarters for his wife's family, who will work at the restaurant, there were more regulations to meet.

"It could be extremely frustrating at times," Hessler said. "I tried to do my research , but a lot of this stuff seems to be arbitrary when it comes to the building department.

All told, Hessler figured that he has about $600,000 invested in the project, not including his time, which consisted of staying on site upward of six days a week to oversee the work.

Nonetheless, Hessler, who retired in 1997 after 25 years as a federal civil servant, said that for him and his wife, the new venture has an unexplainable allure. The restaurant will be something of a showcase for their love of Thai culture and will be adorned with art and sculpture the couple have collected over the years.

Arromsri Hessler, who was born in Thailand and met her husband while he was stationed there during the 1980s, said Thai people consider restaurant dining to be almost a sacred ritual unto itself.

"In Thailand, people eat out all the time," Arromsri Hessler said. "Wherever you go in a big city, you find restaurants and street vendors. The food is delicious and healthy, so you can eat a lot and not worry that it's not good for you."

Although her husband doesn't plan to spend much time in the kitchen, Arromsri Hessler, who used to work at her family's restaurant in Thailand, will manage the Thai Room.

Her sister Buppha Jaemniyom and her husband, Bunmee, who arrived in March, will do most of the cooking, Arromsri Hessler said.

The restaurant will be open six days a week for lunch and dinner.

Although Thai food has become considerably more popular in recent years, Hernando County has attracted only one other Thai restaurant, Thai Cuisine, which opened in fall 2004. Vern Hessler doesn't see his restaurant as a competing interest.

"I think the area will easily support two Thai restaurants," Vern Hessler said. "We'll have our niche, and Thai Cuisine have theirs."

Logan Neill can be reached at lneill@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1435.

[Last modified July 10, 2006, 19:25:32]