LONGMONT — In demand. That’s how partners Edward Vanegas and Paul Chansingthong describe the Thai food at the heart of their new restaurant, Urban Thai.

Chansingthong, a Bangkok, Thailand, native, first met Vanegas years ago during one of Vanegas’ many trips to Thailand to buy fabrics and other products he sells wholesale back in the U.S. with his company, Suburban Silk. Chansingthong’s family was in the silk business.

Where: 2030 Ionosphere St., Suite B, in the Prospect neighborhood 2030 Ionosphere St., Suite B, in the Prospect neighborhood Hours: 4:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 4:30 through midnight Friday and Saturday Phone: 303-719-7916 Website (under construction): urbanthaicafe.com

The youngest of 10 children, Chansingthong grew up a self-described “foodie,” with family meals often turning into major events with all of the extended family that was there. After coming to America, he earned a master’s degree and worked in IT, but always wanted to be a chef. He pursued that dream about eight years ago, about the time he came to Colorado.

“I love cooking, I enjoy cooking, and so does my nephew (Ben),” said Chansingthong. Ben is working as a sous-chef at the restaurant while he attends culinary school.

Working for Suburban Hill, Vanegas’s retail gift shop in Prospect, Chansingthong said he tried Thai food all around the Boulder County area but found nothing as authentic as what he had grown up eating.

“It’s decent, it’s good enough, but not quite the way Thai food should be,” Chansingthong said. “It’s more Americanized.”

A few years ago he and Vanegas started giving cooking demonstrations in people’s homes around Prospect and the reaction was instantly positive, they said. Two years ago they started bringing a “tuk tuk” — a small taxicab common in Thailand — to Prospect Eats, the neighborhood’s Monday food truck event. Showing off Chansingthong’s recipes, the response there, too, was overwhelming, they said. So much so that the owner of the new building across the street from Vanegas’s retail shop asked them to open a restaurant. Urban Thai just opened this week.

Seating 50, the restaurant features an urban look, with extended ceilings and exposed ductwork, modern furnishings, and tableware and decorations that, in most cases, came from Thailand.

“We keep the décor simple, not complicated,” Chansingthong said. “We want people to focus on the food.”

Tony Kindelspire can be reached at 303-684-5291 or at tkindelspire@times-call.com.