Vietnamese Kitchen YEEOWW!

Instead of Pho, you guys are going for Faux !

GG.

that is freaking hilarious Gary. wish I had thought of it.

"VK remains the king for true, authentic Vietnamese"


Robin, I have to differ with you. VK might be considered "authentic" peasant food, but Basa is authentic "urban" Vietnamese food (as interpreted by a top chef).

Remember your history: the French occupied (and controlled) Vietnam for a hundred years +/-, ending only around the time the US moved in. In any of the major cities, you'd find restaurants like Basa, showcasing the blend of local ingredients with a mix of French and Vietnamese spicing. Maybe some dishes would be slightly different, but that would trace back to different ingredient availability or idiosyncracies of the chefs in interpreting the dishes (or inventing their own).

In the villages, where the French influence was not as strong, you'd find places closer to VK - simpler food, less complex flavors, stronger spicing, et al.

And, maybe the Slanted Door was one of the first upscale urban French-influenced Vietnamese restaurants in this country, but similar restaurants could be found in Vietnam for decades!

I need to eat at Basa before I post my strong disagreement with Andrew on this position.

I doubt many Vietnamese peasants enjoy meals like one is able to have at Vietnam Kitchen.

I doubt many Vietnamese peasants enjoy meals like one is able to have at Vietnam Kitchen.

Of course you're right . . . I was trying to make a point. Robin keeps talking about the French/Vietnamese fusion being such a new thing, and Basa copying everything from the Slanted Door, and I'm trying to convince him that such restaurants have been around for a LONG time.

The peasant food would be more concentrated on single dishes. You're right that no restaurant would have the breadth of the VK menu, but the flavors of the dishes would be more familiar to (or more similar to) the peasant food, while Basa would be similar to the urban up-scale restaurants.

[Robin Garr]

Of course you're right . . . I was trying to make a point. Robin keeps talking about the French/Vietnamese fusion being such a new thing, and Basa copying everything from the Slanted Door, and I'm trying to convince him that such restaurants have been around for a LONG time.

Andrew, with respect, I'm going to disagree slightly, but I think we're actually simply going off on slightly different tangents.

Yes, you are absolutely right: During its years as a French colony, Vietnam (or to be more precise, French Indo-China, which I believe incorporated Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) developed a French-accented blend of upscale cuisine, especially in cities like Saigon, Hue, Hanoi and Vientiane. This was local fare overlain with French in upscale, white-tablecloth eateries. I've had the barest experience of this when I was in RVN for a short time as a boy information officer on a brief assignment back during the late unpleasantness. Also, the original Cafe Mimosa here in Louisville, in its early years, was a close replica of that same genre because Huong "Coco" Tran (now of Zen Garden) built it as a replica of her Cafe Mimosa in Saigon.

My impression of Slanted Door, Vongerichten's old Vong in NYC, and of Basa, is that they're more of a modern concept - Southeast Asian "fusion" influenced by more modern, innovative concepts. Vietnamese with a French accent, yes. But not Southeast Asian colonial French, rather 21st century innovative French.

It's similar only different, but it's no longer rooted in the colonial period.

I believe at least one of the Ton brothers lurks on the forum, and I'd love it if we could get his take on this.

Actually, at this stage I think we're closer than far apart.

I pretty much agree with your last statement (especially about the Ton's aunt's old Mimosa, which we loved), but now it's evolved into a semantic discussion: if one takes a cuisine, and then updates it with new influences, is it still that cuisine? I've been to innovative French-based restaurants, which are still termed "French", and Chinese restaurants with American-style Chinese food and those with "authentic" Chinese food are both termed Chinese.

I feel that Basa is a modern concept using the French/Vietnamese base and adding modern, innovative concepts, but since most of their dishes start wtih the traditional I call it Vietnamese, while you're calling it fusion.

I know we agree that the restaurant is very good!