Amid the ever-changing buzz of Santa Barbara’s culinary scene, Your Choice is thriving in its 32nd year as a bustling Thai restaurant on upper State Street. Founded in 1989 by husband and wife Aungkoon and Sukanya Sukavivatanachai in what had previously been a Mexican restaurant called Maya — and before that, Carl’s Steakhouse — the family stuck to the location’s minimalistic and cozy design in order to focus on something more important: their food.
Currently in charge is Piti Sukavivatanachai, who left his potential medical career in 2012 to focus on the restaurant with his wife, Kathy Dao. What started with “helping out” his family quickly transformed into inheriting the restaurant. After condensing the menu, he started innovating their ice cream selections, which were originally developed by his late mother, Sukanya, who died in August 2017.
With memories of helping her make ice cream from scratch, Piti’s research and experimentation led to creative options that transcended his mother’s Classic Coconut. “Her recipe laid the foundation for all the other flavors,” he said, explaining that expanding the menu took time, testing, and tasting with his ice cream maker. The results are now sold under a brand of Thai-inspired flavors called Creaminal.