Front entrance of Kiao Wan in the Village Commons. Photo by Tara Monastesse '25
By Tara Monastesse ’25
Editor-in-Chief
Serving a variety of dishes that take inspiration from regional Thai cuisines, the newest restaurant in the Village Commons aims to bring authentic Thai food to South Hadley. Since its grand opening on Oct. 18, Kiao Wan has become a point of interest for Mount Holyoke College students, who can visit the restaurant at 9 College Street, directly behind the Odyssey Bookshop.
Kiao Wan takes its name from “khiao wan,” a Thai green curry dish. In addition to serving a variety of curries, the restaurant also serves rice and noodle dishes, stir fry, boba and iced teas and more. All of the menu options are prepared fresh daily, with many vegetarian options available.
The restaurant’s owner, Wasinee Teixeira — who also goes by Chef June — has worked for decades in the culinary business across multiple continents, including as a chef in Mount Holyoke’s own Dining Commons. Growing up in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border, Teixeira was exposed to the industry early on through her grandmother’s work as a restaurant owner. She credits the cooking experience she gained from her grandmother, as well as her time working in restaurants in Italy, Switzerland, Dubai and more, as formative to her love and appreciation of food preparation and the cultural nuances behind it.
“It's because you have to know the root, the start of everything, the culture of the food,” Teixeria said in an interview with Mount Holyoke News. “Everything here, I make sure it’s fresh and prepped [on a] daily basis.”
After working in the Mount Holyoke Dining Commons for about a year — first at the Harvest station and then at Wok — Teixeira felt she had been familiarized with the skills needed to thrive in a large kitchen environment, especially when it came to preparing large batches of food while still maintaining quality control. “Everything was so precise, and I admired that,” she said.
Preparations for opening Kiao Wan began in February, after the building's previous restaurant, Duro West African Cuisine, had closed for business and made the property available. While originally slated to open in June, the extensive renovations needed to get the building and kitchen system up-to-code meant that the Kiao Wan’s debut was delayed until last month. Despite the challenges, Teixeira feels that the wait was worth it.
“If you rush, you crash,” she said.
While the restaurant’s official opening was held on Oct. 18, an Oct. 15 “soft opening” was attended by some Mount Holyoke students. “I could never ask for more,” Teixeira said of the support. “I want [students] to come and feel comfortable here.”
Though she may have moved on from working in the Dining Commons, Teixeira still considers the Mount Holyoke community to be at the heart of her work. She hopes that her restaurant will serve as a “safe environment to come and relax,” especially for international students who want to taste authentic Southeast Asian cuisine. She wants to provide culturally familiar foods for international students: “even [if] they are so far from home, you know, from Asia or around the world … they can have it right here across the street.”
When it comes to menu highlights, Teixeira is especially proud of the restaurant’s larb gai, a spicy salad that includes minced chicken, red chili flakes, shallots and herbs. Other standout items she mentioned include popia sod — fresh spring rolls served with Teixeira’s own peanut sauce — and the restaurant’s namesake green curry.
Additionally, Teixeira hopes to minimize food waste by giving out leftover food at the end of the night once the restaurant is ready to close. She encouraged students to check Kiao Wan’s official Facebook page, where she posts updates in the evenings about whether extra food will be available. Students can bring their own containers to take leftovers home.
Kiao Wan is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Sunday from 12-8 p.m.
Adeyla Hoenck ’28 contributed fact-checking.