Before Ounjit Hardacre opened Daughter Thai in 2019, her first dream was to serve noodles.Now she will get that chance. She and business partner Dueanphen Rungrueang will debut Insee Thai in the late spring at 1700 Platte St.
— right next to Daugther Thai in Lower Highland — a counter-service noodle joint named after Hardacre’s father.Ounjit Hardacre, co-owner of Daughter Thai in Denver, is planning to open a second restaurant next door. Insee Thai will focus on noodle bowls.
(Daughter Thai)“I have Daughter, so I wanted something for my dad. The name reminds me of someone who is always working hard and never giving up. I wanted the name to inspire me to work hard,” she said.
Hardacre and Rungrueang first met in San Francisco while Hardacre was attending graduate school. They were both hustling bowls at the super high-volume King of Thai Noodle House, a palatial two-story purveyor of some of that city’s best broth.After moving to Colorado, Hardacre and her husband, Duane, opened Citizen Thai in Golden, where she could run the family joint while being close to her twin sons and their daily trek to and from school.
Following its success, she opened the more upscale Daughter in LoHi, still serving slightly Americanized versions of Thai and Chinese staples.“Daughter takes parts of Citizen and makes it more upscale. I didn’t want it to look like a mom-and-pop joint,” said Hardacre.
The stunning 90-seat interior at Daughter became the backdrop for date nights and cel.
