CHS took a summer news break last year after ten years in the business. We’ve mostly caught up but there are a few stories from that dark period in Capitol Hill history that need to be told. One warm story we’ll shine some light on this dreary, drizzly January happened on 12th Ave, where Monchaya “Taup” Paitoonnerarmit opened Morfire with its “do it yourself” hot pots and Thai specialties. We caught up with Taup and made a recent visit to check out what we had missed.

“In the past couple decades, Thai food has made its way into one of the common cuisines in the US, especially in Seattle where there are hundreds of Thai restaurants,” Taup says about the proliferation of Thai in the city. “But there’s been one type of the Thai cuisines missing from the area, Thai hot pot.”

In Thailand, Taup says, hot pot shops blast the air conditioning — “a fitting environment for making hot bowls of soup freshly from a boiling pot.” We’re lucky here. Seattle has that feature naturally.

“Hot pot has been a staple way of eating in Asian cultures for centuries,” Taup tells CHS. “There is something special about the way people cooking fresh ingredients and eating them together throughout the meal.”

Morfire opened last year in the 12th Ave space left empty with the exit of Capitol Hill’s only cheese bar — the well-named but business-challenged Culture Club. Owner Sheri LaVigne, by the way, wrote an amazing essay about her experiences opening *and* closing the venture — A 5 Step Program to Watching Your Successful Business Fail:

Flash forward another year: the novelty of my shop was wearing off, and my devoted regulars could only spend so much. I was now officially bleeding money. Any profit that may have had a chance of showing itself was eaten up by bounced check fees, which only added to my debt. Years four and five produced a fat integer more than three times that of any profit I had ever made. There it was right in front of me, failure plain and simple. BUT, when you have a business that’s failing, especially in the food industry, you can never ever ever let anyone know about it.

It’s a terrible, amazing read.

At Morfire, family connections might help the restaurant weather similar challenges. “We are a group of three families of long-time closed friends,” Taup tells us, “joined together to proudly bring the joy and unique taste of Thai hot pot to share with everyone here.” Taup’s industry experience is also a big help. She is the general manager at Rock Box in Capitol Hill and part owner of the Rabbit Hole in Belltown. “The one thing that brought us together, of course, is the love of hot pot,” she says.

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The fun at Morfire is decorating your own bowl of soup “mixed with tasty sauces in Thai style.” Taup said the restaurant tries to use ingredients from sustainable and local sources with Pacific Northwest pork, beef, and chicken are from Pacific Northwest, that is pasture raised, and vegetarian fed. Morfire also uses non-GMO soy bean and tofu. Morfire features a small plate selection and like “Look Chin Ping” — house-made pork or beef meatballs on skewers, served with a sweet chili tamarind sauce. It also opens daily at 2 PM — noon on weekends — for lunch. There is a full bar with cocktails like the Hibiscus Sour.

Now, in these dark days of Seattle winter, Morfire is settled in and trying to make a name for itself. Taup says she hopes word will spread about those steaming bowls of soup.

“We hope this will be a place where you can tell your friends and families that if they like hot pot or want to try one, this is a place to go to,” she said.

Morfire is located at 1806 12th Ave. Winter hours are 2 to 10 PM on Mondays through Thursdays, 2 to 11 PM on Fridays, noon to 11 PM on Saturdays, and Sundays noon to 9 PM. You can view a menu and learn more at morfireseattle.com.