But rather than offer all patrons the same tasting menu, with perhaps a few variations, Arun's adopted a unique "Chef's Design" menu. All of the dishes in the Chef's Design menu are selected, adapted, and prepared to serve the preferences of each patron.

This approach allows the chef to display creativity and skill in balancing flavors, rendering exciting textures, and showcasing artful forms of Thai cuisine, while ensuring that each of the twelve courses plays a complementary role in the meal as a whole. In turn, it provides our patrons with the chance to explore many tantalizing flavors, including varying degrees of spiciness, as well as many different textures and presentations.

Arun is happy to accommodate our patrons' dietary restrictions (such as vegetarian, no shellfish, etc.). If informed in advance, he can plan ahead to insure that any restrictions will not result in sacrifice of flavor. Of course, a diner who has no dietary restrictions allows the chef maximum creativity in providing an ultimate dining experience. Return customers enjoy placing their trust in Arun and allowing him to challenge them with new and exciting dishes at each visit.

At Arun's we always ask our diners if and when they have been here before, so that we can consistently bring them a new dining adventure.

Another unique feature of our Chef's Design menu is that it combines the Western dégustation style with the Eastern family style in one dining experience. At Arun's, the six appetizer courses are served in the Western dégustation, or "sequential banquet" style. In this style of service, each course is served one at a time, allowing the diner to concentrate on the flavor and texture of each dish. Ideally, each course builds on the previous one and anticipates the next, usually moving from more delicate to more richly textured and/or spicy. Some are served individually, some to be shared.

Then, the four entrées are served in the Eastern "family banquet" style, In this style of service, all dishes are served at once, and work simultaneously. Each diner can mix and match the dishes in order to experience an interchange of complementary flavors, where each dish enhances and balances the other three.

The servers at Arun's are also careful to insure that each diner has adequate portions; if they notice that a diner could enjoy more food, they will either serve additional portions or additional dishes. In this way, a meal at Arun's is like great music: each appetizer adds a new melody, building to a climax of flavors and textures, and the entrées allow the diner some improvisitory freedom with mixing complementary dishes. And at the end of the meal, the diner is restored to a blissful equilibrium with Arun's famous and refreshing palate-cleanser, lemongrass elixir.

While a tasting menu is not itself novel, the Chef's Design menu, particularly one blending dégustation and family style service, is a unique and ambitious style of service for a Thai restaurant. We have found that it not only allows us a greater scope of creativity in menu design, but that it also increases the efficiency of our restaurant operations. This allows us to keep the fixed price relatively low for our customers.

The cuisine at Arun's involves extensive preparation, as each dish is authentic and made entirely from scratch. Our customers recognize that $85 per person is a bargain for a custom-designed, twelve course menu of dishes that require such forethought and precision to execute. And finally, the Chef's Design menu gives us control over the pacing of the meal service and the scheduling of reservations, both of which are major concerns for a restaurant with our limited capacity and discerning clientele.

Although our new approach initially met with some resistance, we are pleased that it has gained the acceptance and praise of our patrons. Many appreciate the unique experience that Arun's provides with this new approach to dining. It does require trusting the chef, and allowing him the freedom to design a menu of perfectly matched and complementary dishes. But customers have found this sacrifice well worth it.

We were gratified that in a feature article on Chicago dining in the March 31, 2000 issue of the New York Times, the author referred to Arun's as "America's best Thai restaurant" and remarked "tasting menu only, $85, and worth it." Of course, Arun's must and will continue to evolve to provide our patrons with an ever-finer dining experience.