After almost a decade of preparing modern Vietnamese cuisine at Basa, the restaurant at 2244 Frankfort Ave. that he and his brother started, chef Michael Ton is moving to Florida to help his wife pursue new ventures there. Since Ton was the chef and the culinary inspiration of the restaurant, he and his brother Steven Ton have decided to close the restaurant. The last day of service will be Saturday, Dec. 24.
As reported in Louisville Business First, Steven Ton said the restaurant was doing well, but could not continue to be what it has become without its chef.
Steven Ton also is a managing partner at Falls City Hospitality Group (Doc Crow’s Southern Smokehouse & Raw Bar, Union Common in Nashville); the closing of Basa will allow him to be more involved with Falls City Hospitality Group projects. The restaurant company is still planning something to replace Doc’s Cantina, which closed six months after it opened this year in the former Tumbleweed space on River Road.
Basa opened in 2007 and became immediately popular with its creative take on Asian cuisine. Its menu included choices such as mussels in ginger and chili lime broth, deep fried oysters with sriracha aioli and black bean sauce, green papaya salad, salt and pepper prawns, shaking beef and catfish claypot.
