Meet Jenna Phravorachit | Owner of Charm Thai

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jenna Phravorachit and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jenna, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I don’t spend much time worrying about what might happen because I trust myself to deal with it if it does.

I’ve spent most of my life taking risks, but if I’m being honest, a lot of them weren’t always the smartest risks. I always knew how to work hard, but I didn’t really learn how to work smart until I got into my 30s. Looking back, though, every risk….whether it ended in success or failure, helped build the resilience I needed to become an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is really just a constant series of fires to put out, and years ago I would panic, take things personally, and let setbacks consume me. Today, I see those challenges very differently.

What changed is that I built the muscle to handle the consequences of risk. Once I’ve done my homework, assessed the downside, and made a decision, I don’t spend much time worrying about what might happen because I trust myself to deal with it if it does. Disappointment, setbacks, and failure are all possibilities, but I’ve learned that I can survive them and keep moving forward. That realization made risk feel a lot less scary. If the potential reward outweighs the downside and aligns with where I’m trying to go, I’ll take the risk every time. I’ve never been someone who chooses comfort over growth, and some of the best opportunities in my life have come from being willing to bet on myself when there were no guarantees.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Charm is a modern Thai tasting-menu concept built around a simple belief: food is one of the most powerful ways to tell a story and bring people together. What sets us apart is that we’re not trying to recreate tradition exactly as it was, nor are we trying to reinvent it for the sake of being different. Instead, we’re creating a platform where talented chefs can explore Thai flavors, culture, and personal experiences through their own lens while delivering a deeply intentional hospitality experience.

Getting here was anything but easy. For most of my career, I was the person behind the scenes helping other people bring their visions to life. Charm is the first time I’ve had to put my own vision out into the world, and that’s a vulnerable thing to do. There have been countless challenges, setbacks, and moments where things didn’t go according to plan, but being vulnerable was my biggest challenge.

One of the most unexpected and vulnerable moments of this entire journey happened before we ever opened our doors. I was sitting alone in the restaurant trying to build the playlist, and I just completely broke down. I started crying, which made no sense to me at first because I had already done all the hard stuff or at least what I thought was the hard stuff. I had built the steps of service, worked through the finances, created processes, and solved most of the operational problems. Those things come naturally to me.

What I realized in that moment was that the thing I was actually struggling with wasn’t the business. It was being seen. For most of my career, I’ve helped other people bring their visions to life. I’ve always been comfortable behind the scenes, behind the spreadsheets, behind the systems. But this was the first time I was putting my own vision into the world. And as silly as it sounds, even choosing the music felt deeply personal. It felt like I was sharing a piece of my soul, and I was terrified that people would see it and hate it.

That moment completely changed how I view chefs and other creatives. I always knew the physical work was difficult, but I gained a new appreciation for what it means to create something deeply personal and invite the world to judge it. There’s a level of courage in that which I find incredibly admirable. I think that’s also why I love working with talented chefs. Sometimes they don’t need someone to tell them what to create. They just need someone who can help bring their vision to life. In many ways, that’s what Charm has become for me: a platform for creativity, storytelling, and the courage to be seen.

What I’m most proud of is that we’ve proven there is an audience for these stories. We’ve shown that Atlanta is ready for Southeast Asian cuisine to be represented at the tasting-menu level and that guests are looking for experiences that go beyond just the food itself. If there’s one thing I want people to know about me and my brand, it’s that hospitality comes first. I’m not a chef. I’m an operator. My role is to create the environment, support the talent, and build the experience that allows chefs to do their best work while making guests feel genuinely cared for. At the end of the day, that’s what Charm is really about: people, stories, and connection.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d spend half the week on Buford Highway/ Duluth and the other half in dining rooms. I don’t know where to even begin.

If my best friend came to Atlanta for a week, we’d probably spend most of it eating. Atlanta is one of the most diverse food cities in the country, and what I love most isn’t necessarily the landmarks. It’s the incredible communities and cultures that have shaped the city.

Most late mornings/early afternoons would start with Vietnamese coffee. Preferbly from whatever pho/banh mi joint I’m ordering from. Be Banh Mi is currently my go to. I’m completely addicted to their crispy pork bánh mì. If it;d available, that’s an automatic order. We’d spend a lot of time exploring Buford Highway, Doraville, and Duluth because I genuinely think that’s where some of Atlanta’s best food lives. We’d also make a stop at Best BBQ in the City Farmers Market food court for dim sum. The portions are generous, the prices are reasonable, and it’s one of those places I find myself returning to again and again. Other stops would be the H Mart food court for noodles and taiyaki, grab Chinese charcoal skewers and beer at Crazy Skewers in Doraville, make our way to Duluth for Korean barbecue at Kang’s, and somehow find room for a strawberry Nutella croffle from Twoha.

For dinner, we’d mix in some of my favorite restaurants around the city. Lucian is one of my favorite dining experiences in Atlanta, and I’d definitely take them to Ryokou for both the food and hospitality. We’d spend a night at Umi because it’s become such an Atlanta institution, another at La Grotta because it feels like you’ve stepped into a different era, and I’d make time for Kimball House, Snackboxe Bistro, Il Premio, and Atlas. If we were in the mood for sushi rolls, I’d probably take them to Fudo. I spent years working in the omakase world, but sometimes all I want is a really good sushi roll, and Fudo consistently hits the spot.

As for bars, I’ve definitely slowed down over the years. These days, I’m much more likely to be found in a restaurant than a cocktail bar. That said, MidCity is a great choice. The cocktails are always interesting.

Honestly, the biggest challenge wouldn’t be deciding where to eat. It would be fitting everything into one week. What I love most about Atlanta is that some of the city’s best meals aren’t found in the most expensive dining rooms. They’re found in family-owned restaurants, neighborhood favorites, and places tucked into shopping centers that most people drive past every day. That’s the Atlanta I’d want someone to experience.

The funny thing is that after spending nearly two decades in hospitality, my perfect Atlanta week still revolves around food. Give me great coffee, a bowl of pho, an amazing dinner, and good company, and I’m happy.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
If I had to dedicate a shoutout to one person, it would be my mentor, Chef Leonard Yu. He believed in me long before I fully believed in myself and played a major role in my growth throughout my hospitality career.

The biggest lesson I took from him was resilience. Early on, I had actually promised myself I would never manage a restaurant. I had managed teams and operations in other industries, but restaurants felt like a completely different challenge. Chef asked me several times to consider it, and eventually I decided to take the leap. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Managing a fine dining restaurant for the first time was one of the hardest things I’ve done professionally. For months, I spent hours every night studying, learning, and trying to become a better operator. I still do to this day.

What inspired me most was watching how he handled challenges. No matter what happened, he kept moving forward. He taught me that resilience isn’t about avoiding problems. It’s about facing them, adapting, and continuing anyway. That lesson has become one of the foundations of my career and especially my journey as an entrepreneur. More than any specific skill, resilience is what he passed on to me, and it’s something I carry with me every day.

Website: https://www.charmatlanta.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charmthaiatlanta/

Image Credits
Naomi Smith & Justin Dombrowski