Jasmin Andrew never planned to become a chef — much less a breakfast trailblazer.

With a degree in finance, training as a gemologist and years spent grading diamonds in California, cooking was meant to stay in the background. But after moving to Colorado Springs with her military husband and discovering that few Thai restaurants prepared the food she loved — at least to her standards — Andrew did what she had done for nearly two decades: she stepped into the kitchen herself.

She opened her first restaurant, NaRai Thai Restaurant, and several years later she expanded into a second eatery called NaRai Thai Siam.

Now, at her newest restaurant, White Lotus Café and Bakery, Andrew is focusing on Thai breakfast dishes rarely seen on local menus. She is introducing Colorado Springs diners to a savory, Asian-style morning meal that looks nothing like pancakes and syrup. Asian breakfasts could easily be served as lunch or dinner, unlike American morning meals full of pancakes and waffles loaded with maple syrup or oatmeal.

At White Lotus, she brings the same award-winning approach that made NaRai Thai Restaurant and NaRai Thai Siam longtime perennial The Gazette Best of the Springs winners.

Drawing on her upbringing as the youngest of 10 children in a family of bakers, Andrew creates breakfasts that blur the line between comfort food and culinary exploration — and invites diners to start their day a little differently.

“When we moved to the Springs and dined at Thai restaurants, I began to think I could do a better job,” Andrew said during a recent visit to White Lotus. “I was a stay-at-home mom with a 3-year-old and a new baby. I was used to working and getting bored.”

Encouraged by her family in Thailand — including brothers who worked in the family bakery — Andrew began exploring the idea of opening her own restaurant, even though she had never run one before.

“My brother told me about a friend of his in San Francisco who was a chef, and that chef had a friend who worked in a Thai restaurant in Denver,” she said. “I went to Denver and talked to the Thai chef. He was excited and told me to find a place to lease in the Springs. He said, ‘Let’s do this,’” she recalled with a laugh and a wide smile.

That place turned out to be a former Chinese restaurant in the Rockrimmon Safeway shopping center, not far from where Andrew lived. She named that first restaurant NaRai Thai Restaurant, which she closed in late December to focus on her NaRai Siam and White Lotus Café and Bakery.

“The landlord of the Chinese restaurant had been eager to find a new tenant,” she said. “Everything moved quickly.”

Within months, Andrew, with the assistance of the Denver Thai chef who had joined her in the Springs, had transformed the space into a neighborhood destination for Thai food. NaRai Thai Restaurant opened 18 years ago, when her son was just five months old.

“Within a few months, the Denver chef left to go to another job,” she said, “but before he did, I made sure I knew how to do everything.”

She learned to prepare sauces ahead of service, cook each dish herself and move orders through the kitchen efficiently.

“It was hard,” Andrew said. “But I was determined to make it work.”

Now, with her newly opened White Lotus Café and Bakery, she is working her magic again. As seen from the nearly full dining room before 11 a.m. on the day of our visit, it’s clear she has more than learned the keys to success. Longtime customers and new diners continue to fill her restaurants — and at White Lotus, Andrew is again pushing herself creatively.

Her latest idea: bringing Asian-style breakfasts to Colorado Springs.

“I wanted to offer Thai dishes for breakfast to please people who, like me, miss the traditional foods we grew up eating,” Andrew said. “Things like jok (pronounced joke) — a simple rice dish, but with a huge burst of flavor.”

She describes her version as deeply comforting, layered with fresh ginger, roasted garlic, chili oil and green onions. On the side: Chinese crullers for dipping.

“They’re like Asian donuts,” she explained. “They’re eaten throughout many Asian countries. They’re long instead of round, and not sweet.”

Often called youtiao, the crullers resemble Mexican churros and are meant to soak up the broth, adding texture to the dish.

Here’s a look at the other morning delights awaiting your visit to White Lotus Café and Bakery:

“Biscuits and Gravy,” Asian-Style ($14)

“This is my twist on American biscuits and gravy, but the gravy is made with chickpea powder,” Andrew said. “Think garbanzo beans like hummus, but with a lot more flavor.”

The sauce is layered with star anise oil, nutmeg oil, soy sauce and chili oil, then finished with fresh cilantro and chopped peanuts. Instead of biscuits, Andrew serves Asian-style donuts on the side for dipping, soaking up the savory, spiced gravy.

Thai-Style Omelet with Rice ($12)

“The surprise in my omelet is cream cheese and chopped cilantro,” Andrew said.

The large, thin omelet is draped over a mound of steamed rice. A small salad adds freshness, while Andrew’s house-made Thai ketchup — made with chiles, soy sauce and garlic — brings a sweet-savory kick.

Grilled Pork Fried Rice ($16)

“Instead of Chinese barbecue pork, I marinate pork in soy sauce, fresh garlic and ginger before grilling it,” Andrew said.

The diced pork is tossed in a hot wok with rice, chopped fried egg, carrots and green onions, creating a deeply savory dish that’s hearty without feeling heavy.

Khao Soi ($20)

“This is a popular dish from Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, where I’m from,” Andrew said.

The rich yellow curry, made with coconut milk, is poured over silky egg noodles. Traditionally served in Thailand with a bone-in chicken drumstick, Andrew adapts the dish with grilled chicken breast or crispy chicken schnitzel for easier eating.

Yes, schnitzel is traditionally German, but Andrew notes that Thai cuisine has been influenced by many cultures over centuries, including European travelers.

“I flatten the chicken breast very thin, bread it and fry it,” she said.

The result is a standout dish: crispy chicken bathed in spicy curry, layered over noodles and finished with pickled greens, red onion, cilantro and a crown of crunchy fried noodle strips.

Wonton Noodle Soup ($16)

“We make our own shrimp and chicken wontons,” Andrew said.

Plump egg noodles swim in a clear chicken broth fragrant with cilantro, fried garlic and plenty of black pepper. It’s clean, comforting and quietly complex — chicken soup for the soul, Thai-style.

At White Lotus Café and Bakery, breakfast isn’t about reinvention for novelty’s sake. It’s about honoring the way much of Asia begins the day — with savory dishes designed to comfort, nourish and energize.

For Colorado Springs diners wanting to step beyond traditional pancakes and syrup or bacon and eggs, Andrew offers something both familiar and new: a reminder that breakfast, like culture, is far bigger than we often imagine.