Led by two sisters from the Loei Province, the pop-up kitchen concept dishes up Thai flavors at a staple Orange County brewery.
On a quiet, overcast Saturday morning in early September, Rushing Duck Brewing Company was buzzing with life. Tucked away on a residential street just beyond Chester’s historic downtown, the tin-sided taproom has become part brewery, part community hub where weekends mean NeeNee’s cooking, cold beer, and guided yoga on the lawn. Through the dissipating late summer haze, a group of 20 or so locals practice serene-looking poses on a slim patch of grass that separates the gravel parking lot of Rushing Duck from an expansive field of ink-colored soil. Yoga ends around noon, and most everyone opts to grab a beer while NeeNee’s Kitchen puts the finishing touches on their highly anticipated lunch menu.
Founded in 2012 by owner and operator Nikki Cavanaugh, Rushing Duck opened with a simple goal: to bring something new and exciting to the community. Thirteen years later, punk rock shows, outsider art exhibits, and authentic northern Thai cuisine now coexist under the roof of the working microbrewery that overlooks a sprawling onion farm in the heart of Orange County.
From an open-air kitchen at the edge of the brewery’s patio, fragrant steam billows from pots of sweet coconut curry and freshly cooked rice. The makeshift cooking space is decorated with touches of Thailand, a reflection of sisters NeeNee and Natty Theekasuk’s roots in their native Loei Province. Since 2020, this corner of Chester’s famed “black dirt” farmland has served as their weekend home, thanks to a chance encounter with Cavanaugh.
“Right before COVID, they came in with some of their food and said they’d love to cook here,” Cavanaugh recalls. “I went to the back to try it and had to run out before they left. I just wanted to know who they were and what they were about. It was an easy yes.” Nearly six years later, she considers the Theekasuk sisters part of her family. “NeeNee is one of the most thoughtful and authentic people I know, and you can taste it in her cooking.”
From Loei to the Hudson Valley
The sisters don’t have any formal culinary education, and their recipes were learned over a lifetime of watching their mother and grandmother prepare large family meals in the mountains of northern Thailand. “They never taught us recipes or told us what to do,” NeeNee explains. “We just learned by watching.”
NeeNee immigrated to the United States in 2010, first working as an au pair in New Jersey. Natty joined her two years later. Cooking professionally wasn’t part of the plan until almost a decade later when NeeNee’s husband, Michael, encouraged her to share her food beyond family dinners. “At first I didn’t think I wanted to cook, but when my husband and our friends tried my food, they said I had to do something with it.”
That leap of faith paid off, but NeeNee and Natty continue to hone their craft by making regular trips back to Thailand to stay connected with their roots and keep authentic Thai flavors fresh in their minds. NeeNee calls these “research trips,” and she likes to spend them exploring the outdoor markets of Phuket, talking to shop keepers and follow cooks about their process, and discovering new flavors and ingredients to bring back to the Hudson Valley, where she and her sister can continue to share their culture through food.
Building Trust Through Flavor
Because Orange County doesn’t have a large Thai population, the sisters began with approachable dishes at NeeNee’s Kitchen. “We started with simple recipes that were easy to like,” Natty says. Over time, they gained the confidence of their guests, who now give them freedom to serve deeply regional flavors. “Many of our customers have been with us since our first pop-up five years ago,” NeeNee observes. “They trust us completely. I just ask myself, ‘What would I serve my family?’”
The menu at NeeNee’s Kitchen changes with the seasons and often evolves after their annual trips home. A recent addition, crab curry over vermicelli noodles, has quickly become a favorite. Still, the staples endure. Khao Soi, a northern Thai coconut curry with beef, egg noodles, and pickled mustard greens, is a best-seller, and you’ll understand why after the first bite. The supremely delicious steamed pork buns have a touch of welcome sweetness and fresh punch from the sliced scallions, while skewers of chicken satay marinated in lemongrass and coconut milk and served with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce are a low-profile must. For dessert, go for the beautiful indigo-colored taro cake topped with airy coconut icing. Pair it all with one (or two) of Rushing Duck’s signature beers and wait for the band to show up.
When to Find NeeNee’s Kitchen
Find NeeNee’s Kitchen at Rushing Duck every weekend on Fridays from 4-8:30 p.m., Saturdays from 1-8:30 p.m., and Sundays from 1-5:30 p.m. Make sure to watch out for special beer-pairing dinners hosted along with Cavanaugh.
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