Da’s Thai Cuisine to Leave Hightstown

Citing a lack of business, has announced it will is moving out of Hightstown at the end of the month for a new location in Hopewell.

“We cannot make enough business,” said Chef Chirada “Da” De Toro. “We’ve got to have a presence, and to be able to maintain it all, the expense is higher than what I expected. But at the same time, the traffic is not enough.”

De Toro, 29, late last year after losing her lease at the Princeton YMCA. A native of Thailand, she makes everything from fresh ingredients, and her cooking has drawn many of her fans from Princeton to the borough.

But while business does well on the weekends, De Toro said it’s not enough to maintain the slow pace of the week, particularly when class is not in session at the .

“We're struggling because we had to move from Princeton, and it lowered my ability to wait, to try much more stuff in Hightstown,” she said. “Every day we'd be open and not making money it's actually hurting us, but at the same time with me believing in Hightstown, if I had more time and much more money, that could hold us up for a year and I’m sure we could attract people from far away, from outside town.”

The Hightstown storefront was closed last week but will reopen June 9 with summer hours—Thursday through Sunday, 4 to 9:30 p.m. with a special early noon opening on Saturday—until near the end of the month. An exact date has not been determined.

“We've been working so hard for the whole time, I just want to give [my staff] a little break, and then we’ll have a big push at the end,” De Toro said. “Even though we're moving out, we still want everyone to have a great experience and to still look forward to seeing us in Hopewell.”

While business hasn’t been enough to keep the Slowdown location going, De Toro said she’s enjoyed getting to know the borough and the people in it.

“I love the people—that’s the one thing that kept me trying, because of the loveliness of the people in town,” she said, noting in particular her landlord Mike Vanderbeck and Downtown Hightstown co-chairs Amanda Porter and Lev Golinkin. Vanderbeck did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

“Everyone who tries to make the town work, they're actually working really hard, and it was heartbreaking to have to tell them I have to leave the town,” De Toro said.

“I tried my best, but at the same time I cannot bite the bullet and just try to keep breaking even."

Da's Kitchen Hopewell will be located at  21 East Broad St., Hopewell. For more on Chef De Toro and her restaurants, visit www.dathailand.com.