Friends from uptown wanted to meet for Thai, so that seemed like a perfect excuse to preview the Thai restaurant coming to the Viet Cafe space — Teakwood Thai Chophouse — at its sister restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen, and while a glance at the new downtown menu looks much less casual (maybe Tribeca-fied?), we should all get excited.

Chef David Bank said he’s hoping to open in two to three weeks, if everything goes to plan. They are waiting now for ConEd to turn the gas on.

Pure Thai Cookhouse in Hell’s Kitchen opened in 2010, and at that time was the third restaurant for David and his wife, Vanida Bank. It’s casual, quick, authentic and delicious. The wok stir-fried dishes run around $18, and the noodle dishes — served dry or as soup — around $22.

The menu online for Teakwood does not have a lot of overlap with the Hell’s Kitchen location, nor does it have pricing, but Bank said, “I’ll keep the price friendly for The local Tribeca residents.” Certainly the space as we know it is more expansive on Greenwich — Hell’s Kitchen is super narrow with corrugated tin ceilings, simple wood tables, mismatched chairs, bar seats for singles facing one long wall. Fab.

The menu downtown will feature wok dishes (curry paste with pork belly, tamarind chili with shrimp, charred squid) and grilled entrees (grilled butterfly branzino, pan-seared duck breast).

They will be open seven days, including lunch!

More TK.