407 Smith Street will continue to serve as a Thai restaurant, now rebranded as Starving Parched.
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When news first spread that Ugly Baby — the celebrated, spicy Carroll Gardens Thai restaurant — would close at the end of last year, mayhem ensued. Lines, already consistent at the restaurant, had expanded to hours-long stretches as fans were eager to get a final taste. But there’s good news: former employees of Ugly Baby are opening a Thai restaurant of their own in the old space. It’s called Starving Parched and it’s aiming for an end-of-January or early February opening.
Ugly Baby, which first opened in 2017, closed its doors on December 22, 2024. At the time, chef Sirichai Sreparplarn provided a statement to Eater that he was shutting down the restaurant because he was tired, and wanted to focus on other projects like a cookbook.
Napat Ruangphung, known as Angie, and Thanatharn Kulaptip, referred to as Sun, were former servers at Ugly Baby and have now teamed up as partners in a new venture. Following the announcement of Ugly Baby's closure by Sreparplarn, he presented his employees with the opportunity to take over the space. Ruangphung embraced the challenge of becoming a first-time restaurant owner, taking a bold step forward. “I realized that this was the opportunity I couldn't pass up,” she shared with Eater.
Starving Parched’s head chef (and an additional partner) is Prasert “Tee” Kanghae, who previously worked for just a month in the Ugly Baby kitchen before its end, training under Sreparplarn. Before that, he was at VIV, a Thai restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen.
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There are dishes on the Starving Parched menu — under the “Our Inspired” section — that are adaptations from Ugly Baby: the khoong muk kai kem (shrimp, squid, and salted duck egg), as well as the beef shank penang (an evergreen Ugly Baby favorite). “We’ll try our hardest to get as close as we can” to recreate the original recipes, she says. But, Ruangphung wants to make clear, that it’s a new business altogether: “We’re not Ugly Baby — but we are certainly inspired by Ugly Baby.”
Aside from those two dishes, the rest of the menu is Starving Parched’s own, with an emphasis on Southern Thailand (Kanghae is from Trang). In particular, she calls out the kha moo kaki, stewed pork leg, feet, and pork intestine — a lesser-seen dish in New York. The Starving Parched opening menu also features pad krapow pu (jumbo crab meat with krapow leaves), and tom som pla muk (ginger-tamarind squid soup). There are several noodle dishes as well.
“These are street food dishes, not because they are from the street, but because they are home-style, like how a grandma or mom might make it,” says Ruangphung. “We would love everyone that comes to eat at Starving Parched to feel like we’re their family as well.”
Ugly Baby became known for its underrated beer menu. Thirsty is in the Starving Parched name, but they’re still waiting on their liquor license.
Ruangphung mentions that the overall appearance of the space will remain similar to how it was during the Ugly Baby days, though there will be some modifications to the chairs and tables, maintaining a seating capacity of approximately 40, similar to what was available in the previous dining area.
As for the question of whether to offer reservations or not at Starving Parched — something that Ugly Baby experimented with back and forth over the years — Ruangphung laughs, knowing that people have strong feelings on the subject: “We’re starting with walk-ins and seeing how it goes.”
