PAI — the Toronto institution of northern Thai cuisine featured on the Michelin guide — is regularly patronized by celebrities, including athletes, actors and musicians. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the Nuit and Jeff Regular-owned establishment has teamed up with local musician and composer Jamie Ruben to release its own album of original music.
You can listen to and buy PAI - The Album on vinyl at both of the restaurant's bustling downtown and uptown locations, with lead single "Sweet Spice" — featuring Chef Nuit on background vocals — also now available on digital streaming platforms. Ruben conceived of the music as a soundtrack to the colourful array of subcultural flavours that PAI brings together, from former backpackers and diverse Toronto foodies to Raptors players.
It's common PAI lore that the restaurant gets its name from Pai, the backpacker town in Northern Thailand where Nuit grew up and later met Jeff, but according to Streets of Toronto, while the couple continued to live there in the 2000s, they would frequent a live music bar called be-bob where they once met a travelling musician from Toronto: Ruben.
The three of them became friends and eventually reconnected in Toronto when Ruben moved back in 2010. Since 2021, the musician — who boasts compositional credits for TV networks like HBO and Showtime — has been performing weekly with his trio at PAI Uptown. PAI - The Album was recorded live (including via remote sessions to involve musicians outside of the city) and has twelve credited contributing artists, including JUNO-nominated bassist Bret Higgins and local drummer Jon Hyde, both of whom are known to join in on Ruben's Thursday night gigs.
A total of 500 records were produced for the initial run, with a full-length digital release to follow. Get a taste with the album trailer and "Sweet Spice" below.
