After years cooking behind the scenes, Uma Stout is stepping into the spotlight.
Stout, a familiar name to many local diners from her time at the Baan Thai food truck and later MsSo, opened Chef’s Uma’s Kitchen in February with one goal: bring authentic Thai food back to the forefront — and do it her way.
“I just want to create modern Asian dining,” Stout said. “Convenient for the customer — grab and go, delivery — but the same quality you would get from a restaurant.”
For years, Stout built a following through her cooking, and she made a name for herself when she owned Baan Thai. But most customers never really knew her name.
“Back then, they barely saw me,” she said. “I was just cooking in the back. Now I want to present myself — that I am Chef Uma. I want people to know me.”
Familiar flavors, expanded vision
At Chef Uma’s Kitchen, which is housed at 1335 Mayfly Drive, many of the dishes longtime customers recognize are still there — but the menu is growing.
“Most of my stuff is the same stuff from Baan Thai,” Stout said. “But I also want to present more dishes from Thailand.”
That includes items less common in American Thai restaurants, like Thai beef noodle soup and spicy basil pork belly, along with rotating specials that draw inspiration from across Asia.
“I’m trying to make more dishes, more variety,” she said.
One standout is her khao soi curry, a Northern Thai noodle dish rarely found on American menus.
“It’s one of my favorite dishes,” Stout said. “I want to present more dishes from Thailand that people don’t always see here.”
Built for convenience
Chef Uma’s Kitchen operates out of a shared kitchen with Anacapa Poke Co., allowing Stout to focus on production while building her brand.
The business leans heavily into takeout and delivery, with a steady flow of orders coming through platforms like DoorDash. Balancing that demand with in-person customers can be a challenge.
“Sometimes it drives me crazy,” Stout said with a laugh. “We have walk-in customers, phone orders, and DoorDash — and sometimes I can’t contact the customer to tell them it’s going to be a long wait.”
Still, the focus remains on consistency.
“I want everything to turn out very good,” she said. “Same quality, same ingredients, same presentation.”
That approach appears to be working. While many customers have followed her from her previous roles, others are just discovering her food — and her.
“Most of my customers from before, they come,” she said. “But many didn’t know me. Now they ask, ‘Are you the chef?’”
Growing into something bigger
For now, the shared kitchen setup is part of a longer-term plan.
Stout said she hopes to expand the concept, potentially adding more offerings to the space in the future.
“We want to expand the restaurant,” she said. “So people come here and have more choices.”
“If people want really good quality food, sometimes they have to go somewhere and wait,” she said. “Here, I want it to be easy — convenient — but still the same quality.”
Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.
