A nearly 200-year-old brick building on Frankfort Avenue that once served as a toll house along the old Frankfort Pike now holds something entirely new: a Malaysian-rooted kitchen grinding its own spice pastes from scratch. Serai, the restaurant from chef and owner Sebastian Moh, has opened in Louisville's Clifton neighborhood, bringing flavors from Malaysia, Thailand and China to a space long associated with Italian comfort food.
From DiFabio's Casapela to Serai
Serai occupies the 2,000-square-foot space formerly home to DiFabio's Casapela, according to Louisville Business First. The Italian restaurant was vacating the historic Clifton quarters after a 15-year run, as LouisvilleHotBytes reported, closing out one era on Frankfort Avenue just as Moh's Southeast Asian concept prepared to move in.
Moh, a Malaysian native, is the chef and owner of Serai and describes it as a neighborhood restaurant, according to The Adventurist Magazine. He named the restaurant after the Malay word for lemongrass, per the same account, and chose a hibiscus — Malaysia's national flower — for the logo, a detail also noted by LouisvilleHotBytes.
A Toll House Turned Dining Room
The building itself carries its own backstory. The smallish brick structure was originally a toll house along the old Frankfort Pike, the report notes, giving the dinner spot a setting almost as old as the city's dining scene itself. Serai's own site describes its location as sitting in the historic heart of Louisville's Clifton and Crescent Hill neighborhoods, at 2311 Frankfort Avenue.
Inside, the kitchen is built around a slower, more hands-on process than a typical opening night might suggest. Per the restaurant's own site, the team is grinding its own spices and simmering its signature pastes daily — a method that underpins the Malaysian and Thai herbs, spices and techniques the menu leans on, paired with local seasonal ingredients and Chinese wok stir-fry, according to LouisvilleHotBytes.
What's on the Menu
The menu itself spans several culinary traditions in one sitting. Dishes include tuna tartare with lemongrass, bird's eye chili and basil; duck confit with black peppercorn and ginger sauce alongside pan-roasted kabocha squash; and seared branzino with shallot sambal, according to The Adventurist Magazine.
Heartier options round things out, including dumplings, beef short rib rendang, braised lamb shank, chicken curry and crab fried rice, the outlet reports. The spread reflects the three-country blend Moh set out to build — Malaysian, Thai and Chinese influences folded into a single dinner menu rather than kept separate.
A Delayed Debut Finally Arrives
The road to opening night took longer than first expected. Moh announced the restaurant in late 2025 and initially targeted a March opening, with The Courier Journal reporting at the time that the new Southeast Asian concept was expected to take over the DiFabio's space in March 2026. Serai ultimately opened in September 2026, Louisville Business First reported, confirming the restaurant had landed in the Clifton neighborhood following that earlier timeline.
For now, Serai plans to serve dinner only, staying closed on Sundays and Mondays, according to LouisvilleHotBytes. It's a modest schedule for a restaurant housed in a building with a nearly two-century history — one that's traded tollbooths for tuna tartare and Italian red sauce for lemongrass and shallot sambal.
