Le Viet in pictures; grand opening celebration April 11

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Le Viet in pictures; grand opening celebration April 11

POSTED: Thursday, April 8, 2010, 9:49 PM

Filed Under: Openings | Photos

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Le Viet (1019 S. 11th St.), the absolutely beautiful Vietnamese restaurant from Bruce Cao and family, has been open for a about a week, but they're fixing for a grand opening celebration (with some free spring rolls, and lion dancers!) this Sunday, April 11, at noon. Meal Ticket dropped in earlier this week for a bit of lunch. Cao, whose father, Sinh Cao, is Le Viet's head chef, says he wanted to bring a different kind of Vietnamese restaurant to the 11th Street, which is packed with eateries that put out good food but aren't so big on atmosphere. Well, this spot's got enough ambience for all of them, with its black leather chairs, polished wood and metal, a separate bar area (liquor license is coming) and an open kitchen cordoned off by a wall of spotless glass. Chef Cao's 50-dish menu, with prices topping out at around $18, skews traditional — roasted quail; pho dac biet; bun, or rice vermicelli, dishes; barbecue meat and rice platters. What separates the food here is occasional upscale presentation and honest-to-goodness family cooking. That hominess comes through in the house signature crab soup, thin rice noodles in a tomato-based broth with plenty of crab meat, garnished with shredded basil and lettuce. Cao explains that in Vietnam, it's traditionally something that your mom or grandmom would wake up really early in the morning to start. If it was good, the pot would be scraped by noon. The same goes here — get there early enough to order a bowl, because they only make one big pot a day. Another stunner was the Hen Xuc Banh Da, finely minced baby clams with onion, garlic, basil and other aromatics in a special sauce, served in a big sesame rice cracker bowl for a sort of Viet taco salad. After squeezing fresh lime over the seafood, you're meant to break off shards of the bowl and use them to scoop up the mixture. (Felicia D loved this one.) Le Viet is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Yeah

Posted 2010-04-12 15:14:36

I think 11th and Washington has enough Vietnamese restaurants already.  How about one near Rittenhouse?

Hell of an anniversary deal at Le Viet :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2010-10-11 12:34:21

[...] mark its first sixth months in business, the very pretty Le Viet (1019 S. 11th St.) is offering a $5 lunch deal throughout October. During the lunch hours of 11 [...]

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 9:49 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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Founded in October 2008, Meal Ticket is a City Paper blog about food, drink and assorted other things that make you go mmm. We do recipes, interviews, restaurant news, commentary and much more. We don't do restaurant reviews here — those are handled in print, mostly by our critic (and Meal Ticket contributor) Adam Erace. Got a tip, question, thought or concern? Just want to say hello? Please shoot a note to caroline@citypaper.net.

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