Columbus anglers have an abundant supply of fishing holes where they can wile away the afternoon, from the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to the cedar swamps deep in the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge. But until recently, there were a limited number of places to buy supplies.
As a tournament fisherman, Kyle Glasgow couldn’t help but notice the dearth of choices available to local sports enthusiasts. So he and his wife, Susan Glasgow, decided to open K & S Outdoors, located at 2600 Highway 45 N.
The store is small — just 5,000 square feet — but it’s packed to the brim with around 2,500 jigs, spinner bait and soft plastic bait of every style and color. Glasgow said he expects his array of fishing tackle will be the biggest draw, but he also plans to sell items like inner tubes and waterskis for other water sports.
Glasgow also is an avid deer hunter, and he hasn’t forgotten his fellow woodsmen. A long row of compound bows and cross bows fills one wall, while a display case on the opposite side of the room caters to gun enthusiasts with popular brands like Smith & Wesson, Taurus and Ruger. K & S Outdoors also sports several racks of apparel, with name brands like Carhartt, Guy Harvey and Drake and Costa del Mar sunglasses.
The Glasgows are no strangers to business ownership. The couple has owned K & S Outdoors in Guin, Ala. for four years. At the Alabama store, they carry a lot of sporting equipment like baseball bats, gloves and balls, but Kyle Glasgow said he’s not sure how much of that he will stock in the Columbus store. It depends upon demand, he said, but he expects fishermen and hunters will constitute his main customers.
Sao Thai and Sushi
The owner of Columbus’ newest Thai restaurant, Sao Thai and Sushi, takes such time and care with his dishes he could easily be considered an artist, but he dismissed the notion Thursday, claiming the ingredients are key, not the chef.
Sao “Joe” Timratthana and his wife, Saowanee Timratthana, opened the restaurant at 429 Wilkins-Wise Road two weeks ago with their business partner, Wanna Keophaseut. Since then, they’ve slowly grown their clientele — 70 percent of which Timratthana estimates are from Columbus Air Force Base, which pleases him.
As a child growing up in Thon Buri, Thailand, Sao Timratthana walked six miles roundtrip to school each day. While walking, he gazed up at the birds soaring and thought he might like to become a pilot. But the skies were not his fate. He was destined to become a chef.
He looked out into the dining room Thursday as he spoke and pointed to two Air Force cadets eating lunch.
“I’m not a pilot, but I cook for pilots,” he said, grinning broadly. “When I look at them, it makes me proud and happy.”
His family was poor, so at age 17 Sao Timratthana went to the local Buddhist temple, intending to become a monk. Instead, he began cooking for them. At 53, he has more than three decades’ experience under his chef’s hat, but the culinary path wasn’t easy.
When he arrived in the United States in 1988, he immediately sought restaurant jobs, but after a few weeks, the owners would always tell him the same thing: His insistence on using only the freshest ingredients wasn’t practical, and his penchant for extremely spicy dishes wasn’t popular.
Dejected, he took a year off to observe American culture and cuisine, learning how to retain his sense of style while adapting to the preferences of American palates.
His foray into the Columbus culinary scene has been a pleasant surprise. Around 80 percent of his food is authentic Thai and 20 percent is Japanese. People seem to like what he has cooked so far, he said, adding many customers have already become regular patrons. Best of all, customers don’t seem to mind the heat, which pleases him because now he can cook in his own style.
There have been a few adjustments. Initially, Timratthana intended to serve fresh tuna, which he said melts in the mouth like butter, but the color is not deep and red as it is with frozen tuna. Though the taste of fresh tuna is better, the appearance isn’t pleasing, he said, and he refuses to use frozen tuna, so he only serves spicy tuna in a roll.
He is equally fastidious with the cooking process. He intentionally has fewer tables in the restaurant so he doesn’t become so busy he has to rush the meal and possibly make mistakes. He acknowledged it may not be a good business decision, but then, he never wanted to be a businessman, he said. His primary concern is the food.
This summer, he plans to grow lemongrass, basil and other herbs in a planter in front of the restaurant. He buys many of his vegetables at the Hitching Lot Farmer’s Market, and each day, a local farmer he calls “Mr. Rooster” arrives with two to three dozen fresh eggs.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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