FARMINGTON — Thai Smile and Sushi Restaurant will be closed Aug. 29-31 and reopen Sept. 1 in the Greenwood Dining Room and Stone Hearth Cafe space across Front Street.
The Greenwood Dining Room will close for good Saturday, Aug. 27, co-owner John Moore said.
“It is time for a transition,” Moore said. “Circumstances just all came together.”
If the right person had not come along, Moore and partner, Jen Bjorn, would have continued with the restaurant, he said.
The business was going well, but with the new drive-in theater project underway, their property management business and with each having their own business interests, the timing was right to make the transition, Moore said.
Stone Hearth Cafe will continue to serve wood-fired pizza, gelato and salads Friday and Saturday nights at the Snack Shack next to Prescott Field. Any gift certificates to the restaurant will be refunded there Friday or Saturday or can be used at the Snack Shack, he said.
A plan approved by the town’s Planning Board in 2012 for a theater and dining experience is back under consideration, he said.
Thai Smile owner Chaiwat Kloythep wanted the Greenwood building space when Moore and Bjorn were renovating for their restaurant.
It is larger and has more parking and better visibility than the current Thai Smile Restaurant space at 103 Narrow Gauge Square, Kloythep said. The space for the Greenwood Dining Room will remain a dining room and the space of the Stone Hearth Cafe is designated for a separate bar from the dining room, he said.
Kloythep is working on a new menu that features more combination dishes. The menu will be offered during a special grand opening planned for later in September. The menu will include Thai and Japanese dishes.
A new Japanese hibachi will be added to the kitchen, he said. Live music will continue on the patio at the new site. Patrons can now order online and pick up at the restaurant.
Kloythep and his wife, Anna Suphattra Kloythep, moved to Farmington from Biddeford to open Thai Smile after he drove through the area and realized there were no Thai restaurants. Since then, they have opened Thai Smile 2 in Mexico and will continue to operate that restaurant.
Moore and Bjorn plan to take a month off before reconsidering the plan for a new building next to Dr. Troy Norton’s office. The land is part of the Narrow Gauge property, Moore said. The 2012 plans call for a 50- by 70-foot theater and restaurant, all under one roof.
After showing outdoor films at Stone Hearth Cafe this summer, the response has shown that the combination of movie and meal go well together, he said.
Most of the Greenwood Dining Room staff is returning to school, some employees already work for Moore at the Narrow Gauge Cinema, but a few will be laid off, he said.
abryant@sunmediagroup.net
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