Pok Pok Phat Thai

Portland's Andy Ricker is the master of Thai street food—here he concentrates on authentic varieties of pad Thai. The noodles are best eaten fresh out of the sizzling pan rather than a to-go container. Kuaytiaw khua kai is particularly flavorful, a Bangkok Chinatown specialty of wide rice noodles stir-fried in pork fat with chicken, cuttlefish, egg and scallions on a crunchy bed of chopped lettuce. To drink is Stumptown cold-brew coffee and bracing, fruit-flavored vinegars shipped in from Portland and spritzed with seltzer to order. Each precisely symphonized dish has multiple ingredients; the overworked kitchen staff does the best it can to address the slow-moving line of Ricker's fans.