Kitchen Wench

Every time Lee and I go out to eat Vietnamese food, the conversation invariably devolves into us lamenting that there are no Vietnamese restaurants in our neighborhood.  We always  imagine how much better our lives would be if we could get Vietnamese within walking distance.  We’re certain we’d eat there all the time and that we’d  surely be skinnier if we went on an all pho or all bun diet.

The closest place to us is Nam Viet in Cleveland Park, but it’s a pain to catch the H bus across Rock Creek Park, and driving there on the weekend always turns into a parking nightmare.  Plus their food still isn’t nearly as good at what you can get at Eden Center or at Pho 75 in Arlington.  So, Vietnamese has become a bit of a special treat for us.

We’ve even taken to stopping at this pho place in Harrisburg on  to see Lee’s family at Christmas time.  Every time I eat there, I think about or mention how I wish I could get some pho in Columbia Heights for Christmas.  You can therefore imagine my shock when last month I was walking home from the Metro and I spotted a giant sign on the side of a building that read, “Pho 14 Coming Soon.”

I stopped.  I stared.  And then I pulled out my cellphone and called Lee to announce my discovery.  Sure, I was less than 2 blocks from my apartment, but this news could not wait.

Now on my walks home from work, I peer into the window, trying to figure out how close they are.  For a long time, the windows were covered in brown kraft paper and I hadn’t been able to divine much except for the fact that they’d installed light fixtures in the ceiling. Around mid-February, purple bubble letters appeared on the window that read “Coming in Mid-March”.

Well, my friends, it is now mid-March.  The kraft paper has come down and I can confirm that there is a big flat screen tv, a tiki-themed bar area, and a very kitchy-looking fake stone fountain.  The decor might not be the greatest, but I don’t care as long as the food is good.  Apparently tonight was the soft opening, and Prince of Petworth gives it the thumbs up.  Pending final inspections, they will be opening on Thursday.  I will be there, ready and hungry.

Pho 14 Vietnamese Restaurant
1436 Park Rd Nw
Washington, DC

Photo by umami

This weekend, I ate dinner at Nam Viet in Cleveland Park. Nam Viet is not the best Vietnamese restaurant in the area (Eden Center is where it’s at), but it’s pretty good and close to my house. It does brisk business, but I think the authenticity of the food suffers from its clientèle: Cleveland Park is bursting at the seams with white people.

As a general rule, I have found that I get better ethnic food at the restaurants that cater to diners of that ethnic group. However, not all ethnic restaurants have that luxery and the food can get watered down to suit American tastes. Growing up in the Midwest, this was a huge problem. Things are a lot better in DC, to the point where I sometimes forget just how clueless many people still are when it comes to eating Asian food. And so, I give you, the Cleveland Park Rice Incident:

I am waiting to order and can’t help but overhear the woman at the next table. She is a middle-aged white woman dining by herself. She keeps asking the waitress the same question over and over again.

“Can they grill it?”

The waitress shakes her head and explains the preparation of the dish, which does not involve grilling.

The woman is unmoved. “But, can’t they just grill it?”

The waitress shakes her head again. “No, that’s the only way they make it.”

“Okay… well… I don’t eat flour. Can you tell them to go light on the flour?”

The waitress complies, writes down the order, and leaves. I figure this lady is one of those annoying Difficult Diner types that are always trying to change the menu or ask for something special. For some reason, women of a certain age are especially prone to this behavior. If you have a legitimate food allergy, that’s one thing. But if you want your food fixed special just because you refuse to eat it any other way, then you’re just being rude. The restaurant chef is not your personal chef.

A short time later, the woman’s food arrives. It is softshell crab with vegetables and a bowl of rice. The woman flags the waitress down and asks if she can get some butter for her rice. Read the rest of this entry �