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