"MayRee opened in mid-September on the same block of First Street as the legendary Prune in the East Village. The owner and chef, Orawan Sawangphol, grew up in Phang Nga, a province on the west side of the Malay Peninsula in Southern Thailand, distinguished by its beaches and rocky islets. The restaurant’s name is in reference to a figure from a folktale called “Twelve Sisters”; she’s one of an ogress’s 12 daughters who’s both sweet and gentle. The menu focuses on the food of the peninsula, in common with Thai Nara, a Woodside restaurant that offers the cuisine of the region’s Muslim minority." - Robert Sietsema