Cut the tomato flesh into 3/4-inch pieces.
For Tien, the family-owned restaurant Tsunami was a lifeline, his first introduction to cooking—and more importantly, a glimpse into the way a restaurant can feel like home.He stayed with Tsunami through high school and college, and the job kept him afloat when he was displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
He eventually landed a gig at.in Houston and might have continued on this path—this Gulf Coast Vietnamese kid becoming a modern master of sushi—had someone not sent the whole thing sideways: Tien met José Andrés.In the four years he spent at Oyamel, Andrés' Mexican kitchen in D.C., Tien was captivated by the ways the Asian and Latin-American pantries overlap.It was a realization that planted the seed for Himitsu, Tien's first solo effort as a chef, a Petworth jewel where he connects all the dots of his life experiences.
The menu leans Japanese, with shades of Tien's Vietnamese heritage and Latin-American experience.Nasu dengaku, a classic Japanese dish of miso-glazed eggplant, reaches toward Mexico with chile-lime vinaigrette and candied pumpkin seeds.
A strip steak with a dozen fried quail eggs nods to bò né, a Vietnamese breakfast staple he discovered while working in Houston.
His years in the American South show up, too, in the flaky biscuits standing in for pancakes in his Peking duck.she recalled, and they returned to the U.S. and sent out resumes.
He was hired at Clos du Val, and she landed work at Beaulieu Vineyards in the lab.. A goat at Jumping Goat Vineyard..Jumping Goat Vineyard.
1995 was a watershed moment in their timeline.It's the year when Philippe and Cherie formed Melka Consulting and began offering their winemaking services.