by TM Petaccia

For 38 years, Thai Taste has operated as one of Charlotte’s highly beloved, yet quiet constants. The family-run restaurant in Dilworth has seen generations of diners pass through, ordering their favorite dishes, often greeted by the same faces. That continuity will formally shift into its next chapter when Roger Kongkham takes full ownership of the restaurant from his mother, Chien Kongkham, at the end of the year. But before the transition is complete, an experiment of sorts is about to happen inside the dining room.

It’s called R+D Bar, and it won’t replace Thai Taste, but layer onto it. The concept is a collaboration of the younger Kongkham and Daniel Villa, both longtime notable bartenders in Charlotte. Most recently, they worked together at Supperland.

“We’re basically going to be doing a residency here at Thai Taste,” Kongkham says. “During the daytime operations, we’re going to be operating simply as Thai Taste. Then during late evening, we’re going to be operating the bar program here.”

At 9 p.m. starting this Thursday, the shift becomes literal. The lights dim, the music changes, and a small “R+D” LED sign flicks on. The room transitions from a longtime family favorite into a late-night bar, with high-concept cocktails and a rotating, ten-item menu distinct from Thai Taste with occasional specials. The food is created by Jonathan Komthongpane, who previously served as chef at Roger Kongkham’s prior concept, Hibiscus. Like Hibiscus, the food will represent a wider range of southeast Asian dishes, rather than focus of the Thai cuisine. “I’m very excited to be able to work with him again,” Kongkham says.

The concept is part of the plan Kongkham initially outlined to UP in 2024, but permit and contractor delays, not to mention securing the ABC license, stifled development until very recently.

“The positive of the delays is that it did give us more time to evolve this,” Villa says. “I don’t think we would have been able to set up the kind of program we now have if we didn’t have so much time to just dream and keep making the idea bigger as we went along.”

Late-night is the entry point. The hours, initially Wednesday through Saturday, 9 p.m. – 1 a.m., are designed to capture a gap Kongkham sees in Charlotte’s dining landscape. “We’re trying to cater towards service industry vibes,” he said. “Mainly because there’s a lot of people within this area, especially in like South End, where there’s not a lot of like food available late night.”

Villa adds that the goal isn’t just availability, but a different kind of food. “Especially wholesome food like veggies and clean cooking,” he says.

The baseline menu will include dishes that are recognizable in structure but not necessarily common in local Thai restaurant rotations. A fried enoki mushroom dish, for example, is “fairly straightforward,” Kongkham said, “but it’s very well executed,” served with furikake and a mayo-based aioli.

There’s also a vegan take on larb, built around flash-fried tofu and a fermented pineapple “vegan fish sauce,” alongside stir-fried noodle dishes, as well as R+D’s specialized take on fried rice.

“We should have something for everyone as far as dietary restrictions as well,” Kongkham said.

If the food is flexible, the bar program is expansive and ambitious. It began, by Villa’s account, as a casual idea. “Roger was talking about taking over the family restaurant, and he was like, ’Man, I want to throw some liquor back there.'”

“We’re probably going to have around 18 cocktails on menu,” Villa says. “It is a high level. We’re exploring a lot of experimental cocktail techniques such as fat-washing, clarification, and infusions.”

Kongkham describes the result more bluntly: “It is super nerdy and unforgivingly ourselves.”

The drinks pull heavily from Southeast Asian, Chinese, and Japanese influences, often in ways that challenge typical expectations. There are cocktails incorporating fish sauce, clarified fruit preparations, and savory elements that blur the line between kitchen and bar. One example: a coconut, banana, and pandan cocktail balanced with fish sauce “to offset the sweetness.” Another: a Japanese whisky Old Fashioned inspired by yakitori, using a syrup based on tare and fat-washed spirits to evoke grilled flavors.

At the same time, the program is not meant to alienate. “We definitely cater to the adventurous drinker,” Kongkham said, “but we also really play into that low-brow, high-brow dynamic.” That range shows up in the beer list as much as the cocktails. “On one end, we have a nice Duvel, but we also have Mickey’s malt liquor because I love Mickey’s,” he says.

Even the most technically complex drinks are built with a straightforward goal. “At its base, it’s a great drink,” Kongkham says. “Obviously that’s going to be like our number one priority is making sure that it is a great balanced drink.”

Villa echoes that approach. “We focused on flavor over fancy technique or obscure sounding ingredients,” he said. “Even if you don’t understand what’s going on in the cocktail, you’re going to taste it and you’re going to love it.”

Still, there are limits. The bar won’t attempt to be everything to everyone. “We don’t have pineapple juice, we don’t have cranberry,” Villa says. “We’re accepting the limitations of our space.”

What they will do is reinterpret familiar orders through their own lens. “If you just look at our highballs… we’re trying to have honestly the best highballs in the city,” Kongkham said, noting that the team has built a custom system to force carbonate drinks behind the bar. Even a vodka-and-soda becomes an opportunity. “We’ll make a great one,” he said.

Both partners says R+D Bar extends beyond food and drink. It’s also meant to be a platform.

“We want to be really open to collaborations,” Kongkham says, particularly for cooks and bartenders who don’t have access to a full kitchen or bar setup. Villa frames it as part of a broader idea. “What we’ve kind of thought of the whole concept is R+D projects,” he said. “This might not be the final spot R+D bar ends up, but it’s a comfortable spot. It’s a familiar spot.”

That could mean guest chefs, themed nights, traveling pop-ups, or even a future standalone space. It could also mean something less tangible: a shift in how information circulates within Charlotte’s hospitality community.

“We want to be an open book,” Kongkham said. “If you want to know how we prep our ingredients, we’ll share our recipes.”

All of this is being built inside a space that is, by the duo’s own admission, imperfect. “At the end of the day, these are really humble digs,” Villa says. “It’s an older space. It’s not going to look new overnight. That’s fine. It’s cozy. It’s well-loved and worn in.”

There are ongoing upgrades such as lighting changes, a new patio, bar expansion, but nothing that fundamentally alters the character of the room.

Which is the point.

R+D is not a replacement for Thai Taste. It’s an overlay, a test case, and a signal of where the next generation might take it. By day, the restaurant remains what it has been for nearly four decades. By night, it becomes something more fluid: part bar, part lab, part community project.

For all the innovation, Kongkham is highly motivated to maintain the good will Thai Taste has been generating since 1988. “I’ve seen over three generations of people come through here. I, with them, grew up in this restaurant. I don’t want to change the recipes or anything too much on the regular menu. R+D Bar is my opportunity to explore and create.”

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