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In April, Nuploy and Roy Stone plan to open the restaurant on the ground floor of the bank building formerly occupied by Peoples Building, Loan & Savings and First Financial Bank.
On the upper floors, Congressman Steve Chabot, R-Cincinnati, and the Ernst & Associates law firm have offices.
Also expected to open in April in downtown Lebanon is the Greenhouse Cafe, 105 E. Mulberry St.
Last week, co-owner Lindsey Mescher spoke with the city council about leasing a bump-out patio area into the street.
Similar leases already enable outdoor dining in front of Villagio’s on East Mulberry and Doc’s Cafe, across Broadway on West Mulberry.
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A fire in the Bombay Grill Indian restaurant on East Silver St. closed this downtown restaurant.
But with the Golden Lamb, Doc’s, Villagio’s, Flavors Eatery, The Breafast Cafe and The Cherry Street Grill all within walking distance, Mae Ploy’s could complete a diversity of options capable of drawing diners downtown.
“Maybe Lebanon can return to being a restaurant town in the central business district,” said Bill Duning, landlord of Flavors and Mae (with the ‘a’ pronounced as in Dan) Ploy’s.
“My wife is Thai. She is a good cook,” Roy Stone, a retired General Electric manager, said last week. “We decided to jump into it.”
The Stones live north of Lebanon in Clearcreek Twp.
Nuploy Stone, a native of Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, came to the U.S. in 2002.
She plans to leave the cooking to Arporn (Aoi) Bubphachart, formerly a chef in the Sofitel Raja Orchid, a well-known hotel in Khon Kaen, Thailand.
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Roy Stone said they had been working since November transforming the space, mostly recently a Sticks & Stones store, into a 85-seat restaurant.
In addition to Thai food, the restaurant will offer sushi and a full bar.
Mae Ploy is a character who guards the Thai culture in a series of stories. It is also the name of a well-known export food brand.
It also translates as Mom or Mother, according to Stone “what my grandkids” call his wife, Nuploy.
Last Tuesday, Lebanon City Council advised staff there was no need for a hearing on the pending liquor license sought for the restaurant.
The Ohio Division of Liquor Control is still awaiting a certificate of organization from the Secretary of State, financial verification of funds used to set up the business, a lease in the owners;' name and a date for a final inspection, according to state records.
Duning said he was waiting to see what the Stones did with the large vault remaining from the building’s past.
At this point, the Stones are planning to set up a Thai gift shop in there.
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