On Dining: Local restaurants host fund-raisers to help victims of the tsunami

Restaurants in the greater Seattle area have devised 68 ways to help victims of the tsunami disaster. All you have to do is go, dine, pay and feel good about it.

Starting today, at least 11 local restaurants will host specific fund-raising events -- benefit buffets or designated day's proceeds -- to aid the relief effort throughout the affected regions. Another 57 restaurants, all members of the Thai Commerce and Restaurant Association, will display donation boxes through the end of the month.

The impulse to find a way to help was spontaneous, independent and undeniable.

"This is the biggest loss they have ever met in Thailand," said Pluttiphong "Sprite" Srigarom, Racha Noodles and Thai Cuisine general manager. "In my whole life I have never seen something like this happen. It is like an atom bomb. As a Thai person, as a human being, I had to do something."

On December 29, two days after the tsunami, Srigarom and two of Racha's owners -- Somchai Bhudsabourg and Kane Bunyaketu -- met to discuss what to do and how they could help. (Racha's third owner, Punya Tipyasothi, was away in Thailand on business; he returns later this month.) The three men quickly formed a plan: They would host a fund-raising event, one that would make a difference.

From 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. tomorrow, 100 percent of the proceeds from every Racha food and drink order, excluding sales tax, will be donated to the Thai Red Cross Foundation to benefit disaster survivors. All of Racha's servers have volunteered to donate their wages for the day. Even more impressive: Servers also will donate all of their tips.

"Racha is one of the biggest Thai restaurants in Seattle," Srigarom said the trio realized. "We can encourage other Thai restaurants to do something as well."

To that end, Kane Bunyaketu, current president of the Thai Commerce and Restaurant Association, asked its members to host donation boxes for the Thai Red Cross. The 57 boxes were in place in time for New Year's Eve and will be collected on Jan. 31. As with the proceeds of tomorrow's fund-raiser, all donations will be sent to the Royal Thai Consulate in Los Angeles, then on to the Thai Red Cross. All told, the Racha team hopes to raise $25,000. Note: An incorrect amount was given in the original version of this article.)

A world away

Chow Foods partner Jeremy Hardy was vacationing with his family at Waikoloa beach on Hawaii's Big Island when the Indonesian earthquake occurred.

"I sailed my whole life," he said. "So I thought there has got to be a tsunami and I hoped it wouldn't come here. I felt so blown away by the magnitude of the devastation, all those kids. I was over there with my three kids (ages 21, 20 and 10) -- and it felt so real."

Being on a sunny, untouched island paradise didn't help.

"I had all those feelings of guilty relief: It's not us," Hardy said.

"After hearing about George Bush and the paltry $15 million" in original aid funds, Hardy hit an emotional bottom. He knew he had to do something.

"I was on the way back on the plane Dec. 29. I hit the ground and talked to Peter (Levy, co-owner of Chow Foods). He loved the idea."

The two decided to donate 25 percent of restaurant revenue from all five Chow Foods restaurants next Tuesday to Mercy Corps specifically for the regional tsunami relief effort. In addition, Chow servers will donate 25 percent of their tips for that day to the cause.

For two other restaurant owners -- Rajan Arora of Bombay Grill and Tracy Larson of Shamiana and World Beat Cafe -- helping those in need runs in the family. In India, Arora's mother is "very involved in social services and charity," while Larson's father traveled the world -- with family in tow -- working as a foreign adviser for USAID and the United Nations. Both Arora and Larson have planned delicious-sounding benefit buffets.

Larson put it simply: "We're giving people an avenue to donate."

Where to go

TODAY

Royal Palm Thai Restaurant (6417 Roosevelt Way; 206-523-2400) will host a benefit buffet today. Cost: $15 per person. Royal Palm owner Kayanee Swenson, an Edmonds Rotarian, will donate all buffet proceeds to a sister Rotary Club in Bangkok. Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

THURSDAY

Racha Noodles and Thai Cuisine (23 Mercer St.; 206-281-8883). All proceeds from the day's sales, including tips but excluding sales tax, will be donated to the Thai Red Cross. Cost: regular menu prices. On Thursday only, no reservations will be accepted; discounts and promotions will not be honored. Hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Shamiana (10724 NE 68th St., Kirkland; 425-827-4902) and World Beat Cafe (2255 N.E. 65th St; 206-524-3664) will host a Victims Benefit Buffet. Suggested donation: $25 per person. One hundred percent of all proceeds will be sent to Mercy Corps. Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (Shamiana); 4-9 p.m. (World Beat Cafe).

MONDAY-TUESDAY

Bombay Grill (4737 Roosevelt Way N.E.; 206-632-5072). A special dinner buffet featuring some of the restaurant's best dishes. Fifty percent of each diner's total bill will go to the Indian Red Cross. Cost: $13.95, excluding tax, beverage and gratuity. Hours: 5-9 p.m.

TUESDAY

Chow Foods Seattle will donate 25 percent of each restaurant's revenue and server tips to Mercy Corps to aid victims of the Southeast Asian earthquake and tsunami. Cost: regular menu prices. Hours: all day at each restaurant:

Coastal Kitchen, 429 15th Ave. E.; 206-322-1145

5 Spot, 1502 Queen Anne Ave. N.; 206-285-7768

Endolyne Joe's, 9261 45th Ave.; 206-937-6310

The Hi-Life, 5425 Russell Ave. N.W.; 206-784-7272

Atlas, 2820 N.E. University Village; 206-522-6025

Jitterbug, 2114 N. 45th St.; 206-547-6313

Thai restaurants offer donation sites

Through Jan. 31, there will be donation boxes at 57 Thai restaurants throughout greater Seattle to benefit Thai Red Cross tsunami disaster relief.

Seattle

Ayutthaya (Capitol Hill); Bahn Thai (Seattle Center); Chaiyo (Northgate); Chili Paste (Fremont); Golden Singha (Belltown); Jai Thai (Broadway, Fremont and Belltown); Jamjuree, (Capitol Hill); Kwanjai Thai (Fremont); May (Wallingford); Orapin (Queen Anne); Phailin (West Seattle); Phuket (Queen Anne); Racha Noodles & Thai Cuisine (Lower Queen Anne); Rice N' Spice (Lower Queen Anne); Rom Mai Thai (Broadway); Royal Palm (Roosevelt); Siam On Broadway; Siam On Lake Union; Simply Thai (Broadway); Superbowl (Greenlake); Tawon Thai (Fremont); Thai Dusit (U District); Thai Ginger (Madison Park, Pacific Place); Thai Go (Northgate Mall); Thai Kitchen (Queen Anne); Thaiku (Ballard); Thai Place (Uwajimaya Village); Thai Star (Capitol Hill); Tiger Room (U District); Tup Tim Thai (Queen Anne)

Mercer Island

Pon Proem

Bellevue

Chantanee; Chaiyo; King & I; Thai Ginger, Factoria; Thai Kitchen

Kirkland

Noppakao; Thai Kitchen

Redmond

Tamarind; Thai Ginger

Woodinville

Racha Thai Cuisine, Woodinville; Thai Woodinville

Issaquah

O-Char; Thai Ginger