We were looking for something different

NEWTON GROVE — Sitting at the table, I gazed at the large bowl of steaming hot Chicken Curry. The aromatic plume of coconut blended with the sweet, citrusy lemon grass scent summoned me. The chicken practically fell off the bone, and the pleasant flavors reminded me of the many Thai restaurants I had visited in over 36 countries for three decades as an international consultant. The broth was intense and earthy, while the vegetables were an odd blend of carrots and sweet potatoes. The chunks of bread on the plate were for sopping up the rich broth. The bowl emptied quickly, and I could have managed seconds. I smiled at my wife, whose Cambodian Beef Stew brought similar enjoyment. I gave her a thumbs-up, and she smiled. Ah! It is a rare treat.

A week later, a friend from Fayetteville, Sean Swiekow, had a similar experience with Chicken Curry. He commented, “It was sweet, hearty, and went great with the sweet potato fries. The only thing I would change is to add rice.” I agreed.

The evening I conducted this interview, I saw two men, Chris and Julio, from the Meadow area near Benson, polishing off a bowl of Chicken Curry and Beef Stew. I asked their impressions of the two dishes, and the responses were, “Well, we were looking for something different. It was a nice change: something very different. Delicious. It had just the right seasoning, and the beef was tender. “

Welcome to the Parkside Sports Grille, a successful American-style food venture located in the small town of Newton Grove. A Cambodian, Sokphach (Jason) Rin, is the owner and restaurateur.

Parkside’s current 4.5 Google rating is a result of Jason’s tireless efforts over the last three years. His wife, Sryleark (Cindy) Sean, joins Jason in this thriving enterprise. Cindy traded in her precision tools as a dentist in Cambodia to help her husband run their business.

Jason is fueling this drive, a bundle of continuous energy — like the Energizer Bunny, and Cindy, who constantly smiles, is his right-hand “wo-man.”

Jason’s three years of running Parkside were preceded by co-ownning a Japanese restaurant with his brother in Winston-Salem for almost five years.

As a small child in the late seventies, he and his family escaped the horrors of the Killing Fields of Cambodia and spent time in a Thai refugee camp before arriving in Philadelphia. He would later earn two degrees in architecture and business management. In the early nineties, he worked as an interpreter, recruiter, and administrator for the United Nations in Cambodia but wanted to return to his adopted home, the U.S.

Landing in Newton Grove began with two pounds of shrimp and two black drumfish.

How did you wind

up in Newton Grove?

During COVID-19, in 2021, I was looking for a new business and saw an ad for a restaurant for sale in Newton Grove. Sryleark (Cindy) and I came and looked at it and noticed it had few cars. In the parking lot. We said, “Wow, this town is small.” After Googling the population and discovering it was about six hundred, I looked at my wife and said, “Honey, maybe this is not the right place.” We kept driving around the circle when we noticed someone selling fresh seafood. I am a blue crab lover and decided to stop and get some blue crab before heading home. Unfortunately, they were out of the blue crab but had fresh shrimp and two black drumfish. So, after getting two pounds of shrimp and a couple of black drumfish, we returned to Winston-Salem. My wife made Shrimp Soup with the shrimp and drumfish, which was excellent. A few weeks later, I craved that soup and told my wife I wanted to get some fish and stop at the restaurant again. Before we left, we called the previous owner and asked to meet. So, long story short, it was destiny because the shrimp and the fish brought us to Newton Grove.

How did you

meet your wife?

I met her on Facebook in 2013. I had never used Facebook before. But after a sad divorce, I was at my brother’s house, where he showed me how to use Facebook and play Candy Crush. After learning how to post on my Facebook page, I noticed a Cambodian woman had sent a friend request. The dentist served many of my friends and relatives in Cambodia as her family owned a series of dental practices across Cambodia. We started messaging, and after a while, I told her I was returning to Cambodia for a short trip and asked if she could meet me. She and her family showed up to pick me up at the airport. We hit it off and discovered our parents were all friends in the sixties. After a great deal of reluctance to remarry and pushbacks from my father, we later married.

Cindy, do you plan

to return to dentistry?

I love dentistry. I miss it. My family were dentists. I plan to return once I have mastered English, but not now.

Cindy, how do you

help with the restaurant?

I can do anything. I also must cover for emergencies or when someone calls out. I have learned everything except how to mix the drinks in the bar—note: neither of the two drinks.

What are the most popular

dishes at your restaurant?

The American food right now, such as the Philly cheese steak and the double bacon cheeseburger, while the Newton Grove teriyaki is also famous.

You have recently introduced a couple of Cambodian dishes. Tell me a little bit about these. Are they traditional, or have they been Americanized?

They are very traditional. Numerous customers have pushed us for Cambodian food for two and a half years. Finally, when we redesigned a new menu recently, we said, “Let’s try it out.” We have had the two new dishes, Chicken Curry and Beef Stew, for over a week, and everyone loves them. Most people here have never experienced food from Cambodia or Thailand, so this is very new. You must go to another state to try a Cambodian restaurant. Ever since we arrived here, it has been common for people to ask where Cambodia is. No one knew. Now they get a chance to taste food from our country. It has potato, sweet potato, green beans, carrots, ground lemongrass, coconut milk, and chicken. She (Cindy) grinds all the fresh lemon grass ingredients at home, packs it up, and freezes it. And when it is time to cook, we take it to the restaurant.

So, Jason, tell me a little

bit about your bar side.

I will tell you the truth: I have never drunk or smoked in my entire life. Well, I do not want to lie to you as I drank maybe this much red wine once. (Jason held his fingers up to show approximately an inch). Wow, yeah, maybe less than a shot. So, I worked with the United Nations in Cambodia in the early nineties in their efforts to rebuild the country. So, when the chief of the United Nations mission was scheduled to leave, we held a party, and I was offered a glass of wine as they wanted me to cheer with them. I could not say no. That is the one time I had a drink. And since I do not know how to drink, everything I do while mixing is from the recipe—not the taste. We do pretty good business with the bar, but you must have reliable workers. It is easier to track the food side than the bar side.

Jason, what are the most significant

rewards for running your restaurant?

When you own a business, you want to go to work every day you wake up. It is not like working for somebody. You are thinking of what is next? What is tomorrow? What do I do next? And I am excited every day to wake up and say, hey, it is my business, and I need to make it happen. Sometimes, I say tomorrow is going to be better. When you own a business, you are always thinking about the future. Yeah, it is a lot of motivation. And then, when the business is a little slow, you can see the panic. What am I going to do now? What did I do wrong? Why is the business starting to slow down? I began talking to the customers, my kitchen manager, staff, bartender, and servers, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. It is always a big motivation because it is always tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.

What is your dream

for the future?

What is next? What can I try? What can I do to get this place to the next level? And my dream is, hopefully, to duplicate it, like in a city. Hopefully, one day, if I still have this energy, I will put one in a town with a significant population. That is my hope.

So, what are some challenges

of running a restaurant?

The biggest challenge is finding somebody with the same talent and motivation as you and will work as hard as you. You want them to see the same vision as you, somebody to come in and say, hey…I love this job. I will make every plate the way I would for myself. It is hard to find somebody with the same heart as you, the same passion and vision…the same goal and mindset.

Will you be adding other Cambodian dishes? What do you anticipate in the future?

I want to try these out and add something later. Let us see how the population reacts to it. See how they like it. I have received some good comments so far. On Saturday, a friend of mine brought his girlfriend over. She ordered the curry. Every time she wants curry, she must drive to Raleigh. She said thank you for doing this and said it was delicious. We also had similar luck with the beef stew, with several asking for it again (after one week). Wow, yes…repeat customers. It is only our first week, one week and two days, but it looks good. Now, we bring Cambodia to Newton Grove.

What training do you provide your

staff to ensure excellent quality and service?

Okay, I do a lot of training, but I tell my staff, especially the kitchen staff, that if the food does not look good to you, do not take it outside. If you do not eat that food, your customers will not eat it either. So, I always tell them, whatever you do, do it from your heart. If you do it from your heart, nobody can take it from you. So, make sure you know whatever you do, you do it from your heart. Also, I tell them that if you wake up and do not want to come to work at Parkside, this is not your job. So, the central part is like, I never use the word I am their boss. I say I am not your boss. I am your co-worker. You know, our boss is the customer. They are the bosses.

Jason, how do you use social media

to get your message out?

I take many pictures and post them on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Google.

There are many restaurants within 25 to 30 miles. Why would someone pick Parkside if they had never been before?

Easy — the quality of food and service. It is the way we treat people. The service way, right? Now we offer Cambodian food here, Cambodian food in Newton Grove. Let us try it. On YouTube, many foreigners are going to Cambodia and love Cambodian food. We now have it nearby. It is our gift to our new neighbors and neighborhood.

Welcome to Newton Grove. Its tranquility attracted me to recently relocate from Ocean Isle Beach to this sleepy farming community. I retired in Ocean Isle Beach after serving as the CEO of two international consulting firms for over three decades. To abate idleness and retain a purpose in life, I served as a feature writer and correspondent for the Brunswick Beacon newspaper until my wife passed almost two years ago. Fortunately, I met another widow, and we fell in love and married months ago. But we were disheartened by the extreme growth (Brunswick County is the fastest growing county in the State and the seventh most rapid in the nation. There were 6600 new home building permits in 2023. 2024 is on board to exceed that). We decided to ‘escape’ to an isolated part of North Carolina (as we are both proud natives).

After months of research and visits, we discovered Newton Grove, where six roads converge in a circle to branch out to many compass point destinations. It is an inviting town nestled between two interstates, sheltered from the hustle and bustle of a hectic world. The height of the growing season of the farms cast uniform shadows across the miles of flat terrain. As you traverse the intersecting town circle, you notice that, unlike many small towns, almost all the commercial buildings are occupied. The businesses look like facades on a Hollywood movie set, from a pleasant little drug store with its old-fashioned soda fountain to a family-run hardware store. But, unlike a movie set, these buildings contain the life and soul of small-town America that we have viewed on TV or the movie screen so many times and wistfully longed for. Also, around that circle lies the enterprises and shops of Latinos, who have linked together for support in their adopted country. We often forget we are a nation founded on immigration by folks chasing the American Dream. Sokphach and Sryleark found theirs.