Quincy Bowie Jr. staff headshot at LA Times Photo Studio in El Segundo, CA on Wednesday, July 23, 2025 May 15, 2026 3 AM PT

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Sisters Amanda and Katy grew up watching their parents build one of Los Angeles’ oldest Thai restaurants. Since Chao Krung Thai first opened on Fairfax Ave in 1974 it’s been a pillar of L.A.’s Thai community and also a site of cultural negotiation, adapting Thai-style flavors to American palates. Over fifty years later, the sisters have bought the building and doubled down on authenticity. Today they’re serving authentic family recipes with an upscale feel in addition to running several other food projects and restaurants that draw on their rich culture and experiences growing up in So-Cal.

Quincy Bowie Jr. is a video fellow at the Los Angeles Times. The proud Alabama native graduated from USC, where he studied journalism and documentary. In his time there, he contributed to the Daily Trojan, USC Annenberg Media and produced multiple documentaries and short films. You can find his previous work at CNN, Spectrum News and Memorías de Nomada.