We’ve all tasted Pai’s mouthwatering dishes, but who knew they were serving up music too?
The Michelin-recommended Thai restaurant just released an original album to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. Written and produced by Toronto composer and musician Jaime Ruben, the Pai Toronto album is an ode to the restaurant’s origin story.
It is widely known that owner/ chef Nuit Regular and her husband and business partner, Jeff Regular, named the restaurant after a backpacker town in Northern Thailand called Pai, where Nuit grew up, and where Jeff met and fell in love with her.
What is lesser known is that while the couple continued to live there in the early 2000s, they would often go out to hear live music performed by local and travelling musicians. In particular, they would attend a bar called be-bob where they met a travelling musician from Toronto named Jaime Ruben.
Ruben was living in Pai himself at the time, playing a regular gig at be-bob as well as other local bars. The Regulars greatly enjoyed his music and the three of them became friends, and eventually reconnected in Toronto, when Ruben moved back in 2010.
“We bonded over our shared experience,” he says. “They had always talked about wanting to bring me into play at their restaurants and in 2021, I began a weekly gig with my trio at their Pai uptown location.”
“We thought it would be such a full circle moment to have him play at our uptown location. Every Thursday night he brings back another touch of that spirit of Pai that we love so much. The first time we watched him play on our stage in front of our “be-bop” sign, the nostalgia was incredibly sweet,” the couple wrote in an Instagram caption, announcing the album.
The Regulars felt that Ruben’s music perfectly encompassed the vibe and energy of both Pai in Thailand and Toronto, so when he pitched the idea of putting together a “Pai Toronto” album, there was no hesitations.
While it’s not uncommon for restauranteurs to host live music performances in their restaurants, or thoughtfully curate a soundtrack in the background, it is rather unheard of for a restaurant to produce its own music.
In the 1980s, American restaurant chain Waffle House did it — launching its own Record label called “Waffle Records” and producing mostly food-themed songs that didn’t perform particularly well. Though not original music, Hard Rock Cafe produced a compilation album featuring various rock musicians in 1990. And in 1998, neo soul musician D’Angelo produced a live album featuring live recordings from his performances at The Jazz Cafe venue and restaurant in London.
What Pai has ventured to do is arguably closest to the latter example. The album features four original tracks, which can be heard on vinyl at listening stations at both Pai’s uptown and downtown locations, or purchased for $15.
Ruben’s career includes writing background scores for television and film, and he says that writing this album was much like that — a collaborative effort “to write a soundtrack to Pai.” He describes the sound as bluesy, with world music and reggae influences.
All elements were recorded live, using remote sessions to involve contributing artists outside of Toronto. Twelve musicians are credited, including Ruben, Nuit and Jeff Regular themselves (Nuit contributed backing vocals), as well as Jeff’s brother Joel Regular and his daughter Trinity Jae Regular who did lead vocals. Also featured are Juno-nominated Toronto bassist Bret Higgins, and Toronto drummer Jon Hyde, both of whom often join Ruben’s Thursday night gig at Pai Uptown.
In total, 500 records were produced for the initial run, and will be followed by a digital release, starting with the first single “Sweet Spice,” which will go live on streaming services on February 28. The album cover features the word “Pai” written as a neon sign in both English and Thai.
“It’s a different kind of strategy for putting out music, but it’s done very earnestly and creatively,” says Ruben.
“We are so proud of Jamie’s work. It’s mostly instrumental but if you are curious to hear Chef Nuit’s singing voice, you just might be able to find it on this album,” wrote the Regulars proudly on Instagram.
You can find listening stations featuring the album at both Pai restaurants, at 18 Duncan St. and 2335 Yonge St.
