INTEL: LONE WOLF LEANS INTO CAMBODIAN ROOTS + LAUNCHES MONTHLY KHMER HOT POT SUNDAYS

Lone Wolf is known for its craft cocktail program and Asian-inspired menu, but owners Anton Kinloch + Lisa Dy are leaning harder into the menu’s Cambodian roots. They’re also launching a monthly series with Khmer Hot Pot Sundays. I spoke with Anton about the changes. - SDP

* Bonus: Mention you read about the Hot Pot Sundays in The Dishing to receive a complimentary welcome cocktail.

Lone Wolf in Kingston embraces authentic Cambodian flavors + launches monthly Khmer Hot Pot Sundays. Anton Kinloch tells us why they’re embracing the layered kroeungs + bright, fermented flavors of Cambodian cuisine.

Lone Wolf 240 Foxhall Ave, Kingston Visit

Lone Wolf is known for its craft cocktail program and Asian-inspired menu, but you've shifted gears to define it as a Cambodian restaurant, the only one I'm aware of in the Hudson Valley. What precipitated that change?

I would say it’s less of a shift and more of a clarification. Lone Wolf was always a Cambodian-influenced venue, drawing on my wife, Lisa’s, heritage. However, because “Cambodian cuisine” doesn’t really exist as a category on platforms like Google, we were often grouped into the broader “Asian fusion” or “pan-Asian” category. That label unintentionally created a hurdle because it didn’t accurately represent what we were offering or trying to build.

Khmer food has tremendous depth when you consider the fermented flavors, bright herbs, citrus, heat, and kroeungs—the herb and spice pastes synonymous with so many Cambodian dishes. But those same flavors can be unfamiliar to guests who haven’t experienced Cambodian food before. Early on, we faced some challenges introducing people to these more pungent, layered flavors and were asked to modify dishes to make them more familiar. With Khmer food, much of the identity comes from ingredients like fish sauce, fermented fish, shrimp paste, meat-based broths, herbs, chilies, and in layering kroeungs. If you remove or replace those elements too often, the dish may still be good, but it stops being an honest representation of the cuisine and diminishes its value.

So this moment is really about us leaning back into the core of the concept. We’re not trying to be difficult or exclusive; we’re trying to stop watering down the very flavors that made the food meaningful in the first place. Some dishes may naturally suit certain dietary needs, but we’re no longer building the menu around constant substitutions that pull the food away from its historical roots.

What Khmer dishes can people expect on the menu and do you plan for it to change weekly?

For us, this is about being more honest with ourselves and more specific about the food that has influenced Lone Wolf from the beginning. The current menu still reflects the Lone Wolf signature style: bold, shareable dishes bursting with flavor and a strong point of view. Cambodian cuisine focuses on sharing around the table. Guests can still expect dishes built around bright herbs, citrus, fermented flavors, chiles, and layered kroeungs, all of these dishes are meant to be shared.

The menu will continue to evolve, but not every week. We typically make changes every few months, keeping staple dishes in place while rotating others in or out based on seasonality, availability, and, most importantly, logistics. Because Kingston lacks access to Asian grocery markets with the specific ingredients, we must travel to New Jersey several times a month to secure the ingredients we need regularly. So the menu has to stay flexible, but the identity behind it will remain consistent.

You already offer tiki Sundays in homage to your prior business, Fuchsia Tiki, and you’re now adding monthly Khmer Yahon /Hot Pot Sundays. Can you talk about that?  

Tiki Sundays have always been our way of keeping a piece of Fuchsia Tiki Bar alive and thriving since we closed our doors in September of 2023. That project meant a lot to us because, when done thoughtfully, tiki is really about escapism, hospitality, generosity, and fun. Being the first and only tiki bar in the Hudson Valley meant so much to us; it only made sense to bring that energy into Lone Wolf on Sundays, especially through our cocktail program.

Khmer Hot Pot Sundays are an extension of that same spirit, but through a Cambodian lens. Hot pot is communal by nature. It slows people down. Yahon is a Cambodian hot pot with a savory, creamy, sweet broth. You’re not just ordering a dish and moving on, you're actively participating with friends, sharing the broth, cooking together, cooking the meats, seafood, vegetables, herbs, and noodles. It turns an average dinner into a memorable experience.

When you have artfully curated cocktails, an intentional food menu with clear vision and hospitality that feels personal without being formal, you have the ingredients for what makes us unique. That said we don’t want to frame Khmer Hot Pot Sundays as a gimmick or a theme night but rather as a monthly escape to ensure the magic doesn't wear off. It's a different kind of Sunday night dinner that slows everything down.

Book on Resy: Yahon Hot Pot Experience: Starting at $45 per guest + tax