Thai Blessings Restaurant, which replaced a Chinese fast food eatery called Blessings II Go on Brandilynn Boulevard, kept part of the locale's name but altered everything else. The changes - real dishes instead of plastic and cardboard, decor that reflects the cuisine's roots and fresh dinners instead of fast food - came in part at the hand of Kerr, the restaurant's biggest fan and supporter.
When Kerr ate there in October of last year she had just completed
"My husband, as a luncheon treat, took me there to try and get me to eat something, anything. Everything tasted like chemicals and I had been sick a lot," said Kerr, a professor in health, physical education and leisure services at the
"I had Banjong's cooking and it tasted wonderful, and they were so kind. We became regulars."
In December, Kerr stopped one day to find the family of six - parents Banjong and Montree Wachakit, children Jakapong, 15, Thatree, 16, Panida, 11 and grandmother Penny Kuper - without any counter help.
As soon as Kerr arrived home, she turned around and went back. She has been volunteering at Thai Blessings ever since - waiting tables, sprucing up the decor, buying dishes, revising the menu.
"This is really fine dining and she's a wonderful chef," said Kerr. "…I've tried to change the setting so it would complement her food."
The Wachakits consider Kerr one of the family.
"She's my sister, my angel," said Banjong, embracing Kerr in a hug.
The Wachakit family came to the United States from Thailand six years ago, joining Kuper, who has been an American resident for more than 30 years. Though Kerr claims her motives are purely selfish - she can't live without the food - she and a handful of other UNI professors and students are helping the Wachakits achieve their version of the American Dream.
Duoc Nguyen, a UNI senior studying psychology, is another Thai food devotee who discovered Kerr, his former professor, volunteering at Thai Blessings one day.
"I thought, 'Why can't I do these things?" said Nguyen, who came to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1989 at the age of 6.
"It's more than just helping out at the restaurant. I see these kids as someone who may need a role model … I see them in a position I was in years ago."
At night, the children help out at the restaurant, serving as interpreters for their parents, who speak only some English.
"(The kids) are the translators when they need to say something more complex than just a dish," said Nguyen.
Word of the food's quality is slowly spreading through the Cedar Valley. Regular customer Kylie Lawson, a native of Thailand, enjoyed the silver salad deluxe - noodles with shrimp and calamari seasoned with lime juice, cilantro, chile pepper and scallions - earlier this week.
"A lot of times you go places and they tweak it, but this tastes pretty much exactly the same," said Lawson, of Waterloo. Her dining partner, Ryan Siebrands, also of Waterloo, had to wait a bit longer for one of the menu's special dishes - the seafood happy banana boat, which consists of shrimp and calamari with Thai herbs and vegetables in a thick, steamed coconut milk sauce.
Seafood is one of Banjong's specialties, along with sauces, of which there is a different one for every dish.
"Her calamari is buttery and tender. If you don't know what to do with calamari you might as well slice up some bicycle tires," said Kerr, who also recommended the crab curry supreme - "It's the most delicious mess you'll ever make" - and the Thai steamed mussels.
Kerr said some patrons are working their way through the menu, dish by dish. Others are foodies who have missed the lack of Thai dishes in the area. Kerr falls in both groups, enjoying the different dishes Banjong makes her each day while appreciating the rare feast she is sampling.
"I know and love Thai, so I have no trouble selling the food," said Kerr. "Why in the world would I volunteer if I didn't think this was some of the best cooking in the Cedar Valley? It's that simple."
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