Perhaps because of the weather, Texas has a huge Vietnamese population, Houston especially, way more than New York, even comparable to Los Angeles. During my previous visit to Houston, I had some very authentic Vietnamese dishes. Some of which the Vietnamese restaurants in New York don’t offer. Like Uchi, Elizabeth Street Cafe is highly praised by local food magazines and travel websites. I came across tons of posts of this place on the internet. The place is adorable. Without a doubt, I put it under my “absolutely must visit” list.
Category: <span>Extraordinary</span>
Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare
Eleven Madison Park
Jean Georges
Le Bernardin
Masa
Per Se
Aquavit
Aska
Atera
Blanca
Daniel
Jungsik
Ko
Marea
The Modern
Soto
Agern
Ai Fiori
Aldea
Andanada
Aureole
Babbo
Batard
Betony
Blue Hill
The Breslin
Cafe Boulud
Café China
Cagen
Carbone
Casa Enrique
Casa Mono
Caviar Russe
Contra
Delaware and Hudson
Del Posto
Dovetail
Faro
The Finch
Gabriel Kreuther
Gotham Bar and Grill
Gunter Seeger NY
Hirohisa
Jewel Bako
Junoon
Kajitsu
Kanoyama
Kyo Ya
L’Appart
La Sirena
La Vara
Luksus
Meadowstreet
Minetta Tavern
The Musket Room
Nix
The Nomad
Peter Luger
Piora
Public
Rebelle
The River Cafe
Semilla
Sushi Ginza Onodera
Sushi Inoue
Sushi of Gari
Sushi Yasuda
Sushi Zo
Take Root
Tempura Matsui
Tori Shin
Tulsi
Uncle Boons
Ushiwakamaru
Wallse
ZZ’s Clam Bar
Thanks to all the food critics, Mimi is no longer a hidden secret in Noho. The pint size French bistro on Sullivan is jammed packed when we visited. The place hold only 10 tables with a bar that sits about 7, it is smaller than your average corner Starbucks. When I heard the chef is only 25 of age, I was utterly surprise. Because her resume is too impressive for a 25 years old. Already did a tour in Europe including the now closed but former world number 1 Noma, and also a stint in Japan. Chef Johnson really wasted no time and still got a full life ahead of her. What were we doing when we were 25???
We visited Jewel Bako after Chef Kousaka’s departure, sadly, we were not impressed. May be the year-new chef still need time to break in, or other things still need to gel. But we can say with a definitive tone that, we like Jewel Bako better when Chef Kousaka was behind the counter. That is not a fair statement, I know, but we miss Chef Kousaka. So late last month, we headed west to Kosaka.