| Did you know restaurant services in the US is a $430 | | | | These are ambitious entrepreneurs. |
| Billion per year industry? I didn't. | | | | Another successful one is Tamarine from The Vung |
| Common sense would suggest that good restaurants | | | | Tau Group. The group's Vietnamese cuisine blends |
| be placed in high-income areas such as Silicon Valley. | | | | gained its initial popularity with a loyal following among |
| Why then does PaloAlto - Menlo Park - Los Altos | | | | Vietnamese people. The original Vung Tau restaurant, |
| have so little to offer? After all, the population here | | | | a twelve-table eatery, opened in 1985 on San Carlos |
| eats out a lot, and with the tech-generated wealth in | | | | Street in San Jose, Calif. In less than two years, |
| the hands of relatively younger people, the demand is | | | | proprietors Nhan Huynh and Anthony Le moved the |
| certainly there. | | | | restaurant to its current location at 535 East Santa |
| Here are some San Francisco restaurants that I would | | | | Clara Street, and went from serving 32 guests to 150. |
| like to see in the valley: | | | | The family opened a second Vung Tau restaurant in |
| -Thep Phenom : A wonderful Thai restaurant in the | | | | Milpitas, Calif. in 1996, and four years after that, opened |
| Haight-Ashbury district of the city, on Fillmore Street. | | | | a third Vung Tau in Newark, Calif. Tamarine, the |
| -Chez Nous : A French-Mediterrenean fusion | | | | family's first contemporary Vietnamese restaurant in |
| restaurant, also on the Fillmore, but further up North in | | | | Palo Alto is run by proprieter Anne Le (the prodigal |
| Pacific Heights. | | | | daughter), and chef Tammy Huynh. |
| Of course, given the Stanford student population, some | | | | The Le family and the Vung Tau group offer a great |
| cheaper alternatives could also be great to have | | | | example to follow for the likes of Thep Phenom. Chez |
| around. Pakwan is perhaps the best Pakistani-Indian | | | | Nous and Pakwan are both on expansion paths. |
| restaurant in the Bay Area, but is conspicuously absent | | | | Pakwan has chosen Fremont as the place to go after |
| from the valley. In the cheap-eats category, this would | | | | the city. Makes sense, because of the density of |
| be my pick. | | | | Indians. They could also go the Tamarine route, and |
| In the last couple of years, a few good additions have | | | | open a classier version in Silicon Valley, rather than the |
| happened to the restaurant scene in Palo Alto, Coupa | | | | dives they currently have. |
| Cafe being a notable and very successful example. | | | | And if you have spare capital, and want to buy a |
| We were at a dinner party this week with the owners, | | | | promising restaurant concept, all of these have their |
| Nancy and Jean-Paul, and listened to their plans for a | | | | basic right. |
| new Coupa Cafe on North Canon Drive in Beverly Hills. | | | | Great food, I mean. |