Vietnamese restaurants are reaching out to non-Vietnamese diners who want foods that are accessible as well as to Viet customers who want good quality traditional fare. What does that mean in terms of dining trends?
1) Riffs and modern takes on rice paper rolls, lamb chops with traditional seasonings. Taking something old and marrying it with something new is very Vietnamese. There are only guidelines and few rules in Viet cooking, which is governed by innovation and perpetual innovation.
2) Specialized and smaller, focused menus. Restaurants that offer huge menus can't do everything well. In Vietnam, the best joints only prepare a number of dishes, or maybe even just one.
Read more from this February 6, 2008 Los Angeles Times Food section article :
"In Little Saigon, a revitalized dining scene" by Linda Burum
Vietnamese restaurants all over the U.S. have came a long way since our humbled beginnings when we were FOB in 1975. I can still recall those first few years when my family settled in Dallas and there was no Vietnamese restaurant on the radar, except for a place in a run down residential neighborhood near the inner city, where this family turned their tiny little house & garage into a restaurant on weekends to serve spicy beef soup (bun bo Hue). Of course, the whole operation was illegal and eventually it was busted by the police, which was unfortunate for my family and others who showed up regularly to eat that very delicious soup.
Now and then, I do enjoy going to a swanky new Viet restaurant where so much is spent on atmosphere that it is almost too beautiful for its own good. But the experience of eating in that little makeshift illegal garage restaurant will always be priceless!
Posted by: Von Griffing | February 11, 2008 at 09:53 AM
I'd like to see more of that innovation here in San Jose / South Bay. There are a few flashes but they seem to be for the $$$ fine dining crowd instead of the $$ upscale family restaurant types.
Posted by: Nate | February 12, 2008 at 12:39 PM