Subscribers to the mailing list for Vong’s Thai Kitchen (or as its been hip-ified into, VTK) opened their inboxes to a sad surprise just now: a message noting that “after ten years of serving some of the finest Thai cuisine, Vong’s Thai Kitchen will be closing at the end of December 2009.” In its decade on the scene, VTK’s kitchen has been home to more than its share of Chicago culinary luminaries — including Stephanie Izard, Dale Levitski, and Time Out Chicago’s Heather Shouse (who was a cook before switching teams to pen reviews). Since it’s been quite some time since the restaurant was a bona fide hotspot — now it serves more as a neighborhood pad thai joint — we’re assuming this closure is a casualty of the economy. End of an era, really. [Inbox]
