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