
Thomas Yordprom and Puppy Jasper. "Jasper has changed my life!"
By Carol McCracken
Last month Thomas Yordprom closed his popular Fore Street restaurant, Siam Grille. It had been open for nine successful years and Thomas was ready for a break. Working 7 days a week got to be a grind. “I lost my life” he said recently. “I lost track of friends and family.”
It took the personable Thomas about two weeks to clean up the paperwork and other details of closing his Old Port restaurant. Several weeks ago, he and a friend, Keith Darling, drove up to a kennel in Cumberland and picked-up two Golden Retriever puppies; Jasper and Nathaniel. ” Jasper has changed my life”, said Thomas. “I have to get up at 7:30 a.m. to walk him. That’s different. He’s a great distraction from my former life.” This as Thomas and Keith were watching over their new charges last week on the Eastern Promenade.
The even better news is that Thomas, originally from Thailand, gives himself between 4 months to one year before he’ll start up another restaurant in the area. Not far from his lounge chair is his completed business plan. The menu is complete; it will be about 80% different from that of the Siam Grille. He won’t give up any secrets, but says there will be plenty of “surprises” in his new venture. He’s already begun looking for a new location; his preferences are for either Commercial Street or Congress Street. “Location, location, location,” he says grinning.
Meanwhile, Asa Korsen and his wife are sitting nearby on a bench on the Eastern Prom. “I was there for the closing night on August 15th. The place was packed. It was really a great place.”