It's a sign of the times. The Vietnamese from the agricultural hinterlands take over a several-times failed small subway shop, scrub and starch it, strip the walls bare and run it with a couple of generations of the family -- no matter that they might not understand much English -- out front and back. A wife-mother-daughter works the kitchen, an apparent grandfather hands out the menus and seats the guests and the husband-son oversees the operation with great enthusiasm.
La Tre
249 E. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton
561/392-4568
Cay Da is not the first storefront in Boca to enlighten the locals on the joys of the Vietnamese table, as attractive to look at as it is to eat at. La Tre was the pioneer.
La Tre is mostly a family operation, with the Duong brothers, Binh and Toi, working closely with Ngoc Tran, the chef. Binh Duong is the acknowledged expert on Vietnamese cuisine. Prentice-Hall published his vital reference text on the subject, "The Simple Art of Vietnamese Cooking," in 1991, and he still runs a successful restaurant, Truc Orient Express, in Hartford, Conn., when he's not serving as consultant to younger brother Toi.
Among the many accomplishments at La Tre are such delights as the special rolls with crab, pork and crunchy vegetables wrapped around an impeccably prepared shrimp; the rice crepe Happy Pancake filled with chicken and pork along with fresh mushrooms, onions and bean sprouts saluted with a superior sauce, a Vietnamese classic and foundation for all other sauces, nuoc mam -- forget the fact that fermented fish forms the base. Then there's the beef sauteed with shitakes; the barbecued pork; the blackened salmon with wok-fried broccoli; and the shaking beef sauteed with garlic and presented with onions and watercress ($12.95 to $16.95).
Cafe B.T.
3324 Gandy Blvd., Tampa
813/831-9254
La Tre is the best of the best in south Florida and, as I recently confirmed, Cafe B.T. is the best of the best in the west -- the west coast of Florida, that is. B.T., a native of Hue, Vietnam, is short for B.T. Nguyen-Batley, and the full name of Cafe B.T. includes "French Vietnamese Cuisine" in the title.
The simple storefront on an undistinguished stretch of real estate conceals a happy little hideaway, more elegantly fitted than most other Vietnamese outposts, and B.T. operates in a fittingly downsized, postage stamp-sized kitchen. But what a menu she prepares with another chef, a countrywoman who can take over when B.T. is off and running -- and that's not seldom with two other ambitious restaurants in town.
There are always nightly specials at the cafe, such as the Salade Melangee, a gathering of fresh organic baby mixed greens dotted with sweet grape tomatoes, fresh figs and French goat cheese, all of it blessed with a remarkable B.T. dressing beautifully combining fresh blood oranges, Dijon mustard splashed with champagne ($7.95); and a Canard Au Grand Marnier, peppercorn-encrusted duck breast blessed with a fantastic sauce made with a reduction of veal sauce heightened with Grand Marnier and orange zest. Platemates are lemon grass risotto and a bouquet of pencil-thin spears of asparagus ($21.95).
Two other choices from the regular menu were equally as delightful, the Bo Tai Chanh, thinly sliced beef tenderloin swiftly seared and then tangled with fresh chili, garlic and ginger accented with a blend of herbs and topped with roasted shallots and peanuts ($8.95), and Tom Gung, jumbo prawns loaded with ginger, sauteed and served with baby carrots, some asparagus spears and a mini-mound of jasmine rice ($17.95).
Noodle Lounge
3324 Gandy Blvd., Tampa
813/835-1434
Next door to the Cafe B.T. is another kind of B.T. operation, the Noodle Lounge, a place where B.T. can live out the trio of words in the title: Authentic, Healthy & Fresh. Noon and night. That translates to homemade noodles made strictly from natural ingredients, with no additives or what she terms "suspicious laboratory-developed flavorings." Everything in the Lounge, the noodles (and there's a grand variety not only from Vietnam, but also from China, Japan and Thailand) and all the ingredients are fresh, and B.T. has put together a select little wine list and is proud to offer two beers from her native country (33 Export and Hue) along with a trio from nearby Dunedin.
The Yellow Door
311 S. Howard Ave., Tampa
813/258-3074
There's more spinning off from this non-stop kitchen wizard. There is The Yellow Door, a Southeast Asian mecca where you can order Vietnamese poached sea bass and seafood hot pots ($18.95 to $35.95); Laotian snapper supporting locally grown organic lemon grass and galanga, bay leaves and chili flakes, garlic and curry paste baked in fresh banana leaves (market price); Cambodian chicken stew; Korean beef bulgogi; hot peppered squid ($13.95 to $18.95); and other delicacies from India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand ($13.95 to $18.95). The restaurant has just started offering lunch too.
Pacific Wave Restaurant
211 Second St. S., St. Petersburg
727/822-5235
The indefatigable B.T. isn't the only promoter of Southeast Asian cuisine on the bay. The terrific duo of chefs, chef-proprietor Peter Tanhnavong and executive chef Robert Huffnagle, are doing the same, promoting their superlative Pac Rim-plus cuisine at the Pacific Wave Restaurant.
Restaurants Around the State
SOUTHEAST
Boca Raton
Cucina D'Angelo
5060 Town Center Circle
561/750-2344
Angelo Elia spun off this kitchen from his Golden Spoon-winning Casa D'Angelo in Fort Lauderdale. Lunch, $7 to $13, and dinner, $14 to $26.
SOUTHWEST/TAMPA BAY
Tampa
Ashley Street Grille
200 N. Ashley St. (Radisson Riverwalk Hotel)
813/223-2222
Superb downtown riverfront location, updated urban chic decor, fairly formal service and a kitchen confident enough to offer tasty menus of New American cuisine and to teeter on the cutting edge. Breakfast, $5 to $8, lunch, $7 to $12, and dinner, $9 to $24.
CENTRAL
Maitland
Antonio's La Fiamma
611 S. Orlando Ave.
407/645-1035
Upstairs is all class and dash with northern Italian verve and a bit of bravura, based on freshness from sea and land, including Black Angus, and downstairs is a casual cafe and retail store. Lunch, $8 to $19, and dinner, $11 to $40.
NORTHEAST
Jacksonville Beach
Dolphin Depot
704 N. 1st St.
904/270-1424
Intimate setting for some of the best crab cakes, along with fillets of fresh fish. Dinner, $21 to $33.
NORTHWEST
Tallahassee
Manna
3507 Thomasville Road
850/668-1966
Chef-proprietor Stephen Duggar expanded his successful catering business into a full-scale American Eclectic restaurant, with nightly specials and such innovative departures as rosemary-parmesan potato chips and a prime rib cart a la the great old restaurants of London. Lunch, $6 to $9, and dinner, $10 to $20.