Spize Cafe

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Spize Cafe | Raleigh

All content ©Mark Petko Photography (click here for permission)

121 Fayetteville St.

Raleigh, NC 27601

919.828.5000

I crouch down once again peeking through the viewfinder at the dish in front of me. It is placed on a metal chair in an attempt to get a silver-washed background to add interest and emphasize the clean and modern space that houses Spize Cafe. The prawns have once again slid down the noodles, off of their perch, begging for yet another tweaking and having their way with me. Lil’ buggers. I can hear them snicker, mocking me. ”You can’t style food!” they heckle. I grab one by the tail and can feel the vibration of laughter pulse through it’s last bit of shell in my fingers. I once again place the unruly Decapoda atop the noodles, check the position and hurry my greasy fingers back to the camera for a quick fire. As I check the screen to verify my placement another sound begins to drown the audible amusement of jeering prawns. It is a sound familiar to me. Not only have I heard this sound before but it’s one that I have created myself many lifetimes ago. I think most men my age have personal experiences with this sound. One couldn’t have possibly traveled through the universe during those formidable “Star Wars” influenced years and not perfected it. A manipulation of muscles around the mouth combined with perfectly timed breathing distortions, once learned and refined, could bring to life any handheld object, real or imagined and form a respectable laser blaster. These laser shooting sounds emanate from the door marked ‘office’ where the son of Meechai and Jacq Kowae amuses himself in creative play while his parents ready the restaurant for the evening’s dinner service. Being a family run establishment I imagine the lad is forming quite a few childhood memories as he spends time at Spize, nuances that will be ingrained into his being. Will he remember the smell of grilling cumin chicken? Or the sound a serrated blade makes when halving a baguette? Will the laughter and friendly faces of the crew at the grill play like a movie when he reminisces to his days as a boy? Will the sounds of grilling vegetables and the chatter of a packed dining room remind him of the times when he was playing, in the back room of his parents restaurant with his laser gun? His imagination inspires me, making sure to wait until the mischievous prawns are watching me I create my very own imaginary laser gun. I wave it a bit in the air, to show them I mean business before strapping it into it’s “Han Solo” holster. I peer into the viewfinder once again only to see them cooperative and upright, knowing the doom fated to them if they continue their shenanigans towards the dark side.

Having run similar restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area, Meechai and Jacq Kowae are accustomed to providing hungry patrons with a pleasant mix of their Pan-Asian eats. From soups to salads, noodle salads and baguettes to small and large plate entrees, Spize Cafe offers plenty of options to quell the hunger if you are in Downtown Raleigh and are in need. Adding to their counter service of mouthwatering offerings the management of Spize have taken on a positive approach to being eco-friendly by serving all of their dishes using only trays, platters, silver and napkins that are made of renewable and biodegradable materials such as corn, sugar cane and bamboo. They also pride themselves on their organic wine offerings including French Rabbit Pinot Noir, packaged in earth friendly containers and Live A Little Ravishing Red, fair-trade and organically certified.

Visit their website here to see weekly specials and menus.

or follow them on twitter or facebook.

All content ©Mark Petko Photography (click here for permission)