Foodie in Fairbanks: the unexpected culinary scene in the middle of Alaska

C harlie Boonprasert and Tutu Navachai arrived in Fairbanks in the 1980s, when their friend offered them jobs mining and cooking at a gold lease. The pair, originally from northern Thailand, soon realized there was almost no south-east Asian food available in Alaska’s remote interior. But they did find a small Thai population in Fairbanks yearning for a taste of home, and a chance to meet up and gossip. So in 1989, they opened Thai House, initially as a hole-in-the-wall in the city’s downtown. Today, Boonprasert’s wife, Laong, runs the restaurant, which has an extensive menu, including gai yang (grilled barbecue chicken), tom yum kung (hot and sour soup with shrimp), and of course, pad thai. They mainly use recipes from their home region, but not quite as spicy. Tutu Navachai of Lemongrass Photograph: Natt Navachai Home to just 31,000 people – not including the military personnel on the two nearby bases – Fairbanks is not an obvious culinary destination. It’s six hours inland from Anchorage, and better known as a gateway to the Arctic and a hotspot for the northern lights. But the city is an unexpected food mecca. Visitors will find themselves spoiled for choices: crepes, empanadas, tacos, ramen, barbecue, Cuban, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Filipino cuisine, and even one of the few Moldovan restaurants in the US. Partly, it’s the geography. …