The Blue Elephant gets ready to open
Asian fusion restaurant takes up residence downtown
POTTSTOWN >> The wait is over.
After about eight months of renovations, The Blue Elephant opens this week at 152 E. High St. The Asian fusion restaurant is owned by Win and Sutida Somboonsong. Their company — Win Signature Restaurants — includes four restaurants on the Main Line.
The Blue Elephant, the fifth restaurant in the group, opens to the public at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6 — a “soft” opening that will continue throughout the weekend. Following dinner offerings on Friday, The Blue Elephant will serve lunch and dinner on Saturday and dinner on Sunday. No reservations will be accepted over the weekend.
The restaurant will be closed for a private function on Monday, Sept. 9 — and then it’s “business as usual” according to Pearl Somboonsong, Win and Sutida’s daughter and director of development for Win Signature Restaurants.
“We are so excited to be in Pottstown. We already have parties booked out and also have inquiries about weddings. There is a huge buzz for what we have done here,” Somboonsong said.
The Blue Elephant is located in the former bank building on the corner of High and Hanover streets that for 10 years was home to The Brick House Restaurant, which closed two years ago.
Pearl Somboonsong has overseen the creation of the new Pottstown restaurant — including design, tile selections, colors, renovations, decorations and hiring. She grew up around restaurants: her parent’s first restaurant, Mikado Thai Pepper, opened 27 years ago, when she was just a baby.
Somboonsong graduated from Cornell University in 2014, saying she wasn’t ready to enter the family business. Instead, she went to New York City and Chicago to help open new restaurants for bigger groups.
“And then, the Pottstown opportunity popped up. I took a look at the space and I said, ‘I’ve got this, we don’t need a designer. I will design the space myself,’” she said, adding that the building was “so beautiful,” she wanted to take on the design.
One of the inspirations for The Blue Elephant, according to Somboonsong, was to bring the outside in. The space boasts a fountain, which Somboonsong and her father put together in the middle of the restaurant, as well as foliage.
To minimize noise inside the
space, which has very high ceilings, Somboonsong said sound absorbing paint was used. Velvet hangs on the walls, which she said also helps absorb sound.
The space also features a 30-foot long quartz bar.
“I never wanted any seat to be a bad seat. That’s why you see so many booths — velvet booths, leather booths. We want people to feel that no matter where they sit they can see every interesting point of the restaurant. That is what you see. It is all open,” she added.
Somboonsong said the main goal was to make The Blue Elephant comfortable.
“We want people to feel they have walked into a grand palace, and we want them to feel very comfortable and at home. There is something for everyone here,” she said.
Asked what the inspiration was for the name, Somboonsong showed a collection of historic photos that hangs in the lobby of the building. One of the photos shows a group of circus elephants walking down High Street. It helped inspire the name, she said, and was a perfect tie-in, given the prevalence of elephants in several Asian countries.
Over the front door, hangs the blue face of an elephant, drawn by Somboonsong and crafted by IronStudios in Philadelphia
As for the cuisine, Somboonsong said Asian fusion can mean different things to people.
“I would say for us, it is more of an Italian-Thai twist here, with Japanese and French influences,” she explained.
On the menu, she said, are some customer favorites from the other locations, including: Rock Shrimp, Pad Thai and Fried Rice.
“But then you also see some of the chefs’ creativity with Lobster Green Curry Linguini, and a Pineapple Duck Teriyaki dish with pasta and red curry marinara sauce. It’s really fun mix of flavors that you probably haven’t seen before,” she added.
The executive chefs for The Blue Elephant are two brothers — Juan & Felipe Calixto. The duo worked for 10 years at Win Restaurants’ Teikoku location in Newtown Square.
The Somboonsongs purchased the building at 152 E. High St., which includes the restaurant space as well as office space, in 2015. And for about five years, they have owned another High Street property, which has yet to be developed.
So what brought them to Pottstown?
“The bones. We took a look at the town and when you look at it, it has all the foundations of being the next big spot,” Somboonsong said, adding that Pottstown Hospital, the Hill School, the width of High Street and Pottstown’s proximity to the highway make the area appealing.
“As well as the rich history and architecture. Just sitting in this space, where do you see a spot like this? There is so much life in this town,” she added.
For its initial weekend, The Blue Elephant will be open Friday Sept. 6: 5 to 9:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 7: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10:30 p.m.; and Sunday Sept. 8: 5 to 9:30 p.m.
Beginning Tuesday, Sept 7, hours will be: Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10:30; and Sunday 5 to 9 p.m. Happy hour is Monday through Friday, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The other restaurants owned by Win Signature Restaurants include: Teikoku in Newtown Square, Mikado Thai Pepper in Ardmore, Azie Media in Media and Azie on Main in Villanova.
“I never wanted any seat to be a bad seat. That’s why you see so many booths — velvet booths, leather booths. We want people to feel that no matter where they sit they can see every interesting point of the restaurant. That is what you see. It is all open.” — Pearl Somboonsong, director of development, Win signature Restaurants