Saeng Douangdara

06/12/2026

Loved chatting about Lao food on The Splendid Table! Thank you so much for having me.

New episode day! 🎉

This week, food editor and author Monti Carlo talks about her visit home to Puerto Rico after many years away, and how reconnecting with her roots shaped her approach to cooking traditional dishes.

Then, we get into the spicy, savory, sticky food of Laos with Saeng Douangdara, including his take on the Laab Taco.

Listen here or wherever you listen to podcasts: bit.ly/4osbqfQ

06/09/2026

A beautifully written piece capturing JuJubee's journey while spotlighting Lao food. Its a great read! Article link is in the coments.

06/01/2026

I can’t believe I got to travel across the country, meet so many of you, and share these special book events alongside friends and community partners.

I just wrapped up the second and final leg of the book tour, and you all truly showed up. Thank you for filling these rooms with excitement, curiosity, and a desire to learn more about Lao food and the journey it took to bring this book to life.

These are the people and organizations who helped make the second half of the tour possible:
Fresno –
San Francisco –
Seattle –
Minneapolis – .mpls
Madison –
Milwaukee –
Oahu –

I hope everyone is enjoying The Lao Kitchen. I’m going to take some time to reflect on this experience, but I’ll be sharing more soon. Thank you for being part of this journey.

05/17/2026

Minneapolis! There are a few signed copies of my cookbook at XIA Books & Café. Grab them before they’re gone.

05/11/2026

05/10/2026

HONOLULU! I couldn’t be more excited to have Hawaii as the final stop of The Lao Kitchen tour with . This stop is especially unique because it’s the only event on the tour where I’ll be teaching a hands-on cooking class featuring some of my favorite recipes from the book.

Together, we’ll explore key ingredients used in Lao cuisine and learn how flavors are layered to create the signature depth found in Lao cooking. Along with the cooking class, we’ll also take a closer look at the stories and creative process behind how the book came to life. Your ticket includes the class and an autographed copy of the book.

Seats are very limited, so make sure to grab your tickets soon. Comment “Honolulu ticket” and I’ll send you the link.

Other than Hawaii, there are only two cities left with a few remaining tickets before the entire tour sells out: Fresno and Milwaukee. See you all soon!