BARRINGTON — The roots of Tong-D, a new Thai restaurant set to open in Barrington, can actually be traced to a watch.

It turns out that Angie Lim, a native of Thailand and the owner of two fine-dining restaurants in Massachusetts, was in Barrington in 2004 to have a watch serviced by Gray Jewelers on County Road. She quickly fell in love with the town and tried to find a location here for a new restaurant.

She initially failed to find a suitable site and then moved to New York. She returned to this area last year and began making plans to open the restaurant in a new building owned by George Gray and Louis Suriani. The space is located on Bosworth Street behind Center Hardware.

“I didn’t like New York. The lifestyle was too busy and it wasn‘t for me. I decided to do more research in this area and when I came upon this building, I knew it was meant to be,” she said.

Ms. Lim said she is waiting for final inspections from the Rhode Island Department of Health before she can open for business.

Translated, Tong-D loosely means good as gold — Tong means gold and D is good. She is hopeful her restaurant will be golden and very successful, she said.

The establishment has seating for 50 patrons and will offer beer and wine. Barrington resident Bob Antonelli, a wine distributor for Horizon Beverage Co., helped Ms. Lim pair wines with her menu as well as domestic and imported beers.

Ms. Lim will work the front of the business, greeting customers and attending to their needs. Her brother Nick Aree is the head chef and will do most of the cooking.

“My brother, with the help of architect John Hall, designed the all-stainless steel kitchen to his needs. He is so excited to have a brand new kitchen that is his design,” she said.

Ms. Lim said many former employees and relatives from the Boston area have relocated to the area. She has also moved to Barrington to be closer to her business.

The focus of Tong-D, she said, is quality and freshness.

“We are confident in our food quality. We will cook to order. If someone wants a dish not so spicy or spicier, we will do that. We also have many vegetarian dishes,” Ms. Lim said.

Some of her brother’s signature dishes include coconut calamari, pad kee-mow, and mango curry with chicken and shrimp.

As soon as she gets the green light to open , Ms. Lim is sending out a mailer with coupons to Barrington households. She said the coupons may be out of date due to the delay in opening, but will still be accepted indefinitely.

Tong-D takes reservations and accepts credit cards. Business hours are 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday and open until 10:30 on Fridays and Saturdays.