Prince Street

Novelist Pitchaya Sudbanthad's moving debut, Bangkok Wakes to Rain, is strongly influenced by the author's feelings and thoughts about food. From a Thai restaurant in Japan that's run out of ingredients to treating a meal as an object of mercy, Sudbanthad's novel uses the edible to drive plot, develop characters and evoke a host of feelings. He sits down with esteemed cookbook author and Pok Pok cookbook collaborator JJ Goode to talk about the power and pull of Thai cooking, a restaurant that catches on fire, a singular, surprising lasagna and much more.