About MangoMoon

At an early age, Nongyao “Moon” Krapugthong could identify the resonant gong and the shrill voice of the lady selling grilled pork as food vendors paddled down the canal outside of her Bangkok, Thailand home. Moon savored the packet of meat her leftover school lunch money could afford, licking the sauce off the bag. When she grew up, she vowed to use her paycheck to buy all the grilled pork she could eat.

Amidst wildly popular success that led to a Best of Philly win in 2007 and a 2009 Zagat nod for the city’s Best Thai, Moon felt that her first enterprise, Chabaa Thai Bistro, had a missing element. 

She opened a second restaurant, MangoMoon, and unleashed her interpretation of Thai favorites. She harnessed the bold power of herbs and seasonings and unique cuts of meat to present fresh takes on Bangkok dishes, presenting them in the Asian fashion of multiple dishes meant to be shared. In Moon’s mind, this artistically chic restaurant is a festive food stage that allows diners to forge an exploration into novel flavors and textures – a reenactment of a child’s first foray into a culinary smorgasbord.

Moon originally studied business, working part-time in Chicago kitchens while earning her MBA. Unfulfilled by an 9-5 career in finance, she pursued her MFA in photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology. It was there she discovered cooking as an art form, and at the encouragement of family and friends, donned the hat of restaurateur. With a strong foundation in Thai cooking from her father as he prepared nourishing meals for the workers on their farm, Moon uses her passion and artful delivery of food to craft dishes that nurture and excite. In addition to her award-winning restaurants, Moon has captured distinction in a 2008 Pennsylvania Pork cooking competition, and is a member Les Dames d’Escoffier International in 2009.

When not in the restaurant kitchen, 42-year-old Moon enjoys spending time with her husband, Pat, and two-year-old child. And eating all the grilled pork she can.