Phobar in Chinatown is a Vietnamese Noodle Bar Offering Exciting New Menu Items: Deconstructed Phở Pot and 25-Hour Broth

No less a food luminary than Anthony Bourdain is quoted about Vietnam cuisine and his personal noodle soup preferences, "In my way of thinking, in the hierarchy of delicious, slurpy stuff in a bowl, bun bo hue is at the very top." and also, when eating bun bo hue at the Dong Ba market: "People are put on earth for various purposes; I was put on earth to do this. Eat noodles right here."

Well, now you too can slurp away and eat noodles with purpose. Phobar Chinatown opened recently.

Pho means “noodle soup” - and Phobar could very well be the definitive noodle soup eatery in Gotham.

Phobar wrote me (and I especially need this for the formatting of the Vietnamese language punctuation,) “Following the success of their first location in Greenwich Village, chef and owner Mike Khuu and co-owner Li Pien are thrilled to open the second outpost of PhoBar, a contemporary Vietnamese restaurant with a focus on phở in Chinatown (43 Mott Street; 212-267-5400.

Incorporating thoughtful sourcing, quality ingredients and refined culinary techniques, PhoBar highlights the depth and complexity of the country’s traditional dishes.



There is a true noodle bar with a view to the “athletics” of the kitchen and cooks working their magic. There are tables and booths - so lots of seating options for a date, a solo stop, or a friends and family experience.

I loved the dracena-inspired wallpaper and lights!



“Designed by Mike Khuu, PhoBar’s 90-seat space was inspired by the vibrancy of retro Saigon, incorporating vibrant colors and elements reminiscent of the country’s landscape, including bamboo and jungle foliage in the chic and minimalistic space. In a nod to the restaurant’s signature dish (and the acclaimed 2018 film, Crazy Rich Asians), the space also boasts a custom-made neon sign that reads Crazy Rich Broth.”

In another fun nod to the zeitgeist, the wait staff wears T-Shirts extolling the crazy good broth:

“The Chinatown outpost features offerings exclusive to the location, including a Crazy Rich Broth with an unctuous and robust base using Angus prime beef bones sourced from Weichsel Beef/RFM -- one of the oldest butchers in NYC -- available in both 16- and 25-hour options for deeper flavor.

The menu also features additional offerings like the Bún Bò Huế, with slow braised house brisket, sliced beef and Vietnamese ham with spicy beef and pork broth, as well as a Deconstructed Phở Pot, an innovative version of the soup complete with an individual tableside hot pot, designed to keep the broth at an optimal temperature without over cooking the noodles. (check out my stirring prowess in this video!)

The rest of the menu at PhoBar is centered around the eatery’s namesake and signature dish, phở, the rich and comforting rice noodle soup. Reinterpretations of classics include Grilled Lemongrass Chicken Phở, Slow Braised Brisket Phở, and Portobello Mushroom Phở. Signature dishes that take a bit more creative culinary license include Spicy Short Rib Phở,

Snow Crab & Shrimp Riêu, Lobster Phở, and even Surf & Turf Phở. A variety of additional Vietnamese-inspired dishes include Fresh Summer Rolls, Chili Shrimp, and Young Papaya & Mango Salad, as well as versions of the traditional rice and vermicelli dishes Bún or Cơm, with options like Char-Grilled Lemongrass Pork Chops, Shaking Beef, and Fried Catfish, topped with scallions and fried shallots and served with a side of cucumbers, bean sprouts, lettuce, carrots, daikon, and Vietnamese chili sauce.

It’s really a fun and engaging experience to build your pho bowl - and stir up your dish. I think this food fun will resonate especially on a date or with children. Like me! I loved stirring those noodles, just so - as recommended by our waiter. Keep stirring so the noodles cook up just right. Twirling and keeping the noodles soft.



PhoBar’s beverage menu features wine as well as an Asian Beer Bar, highlighting an eclectic mix of beer from countries across the continent including Saigon, Asahi, Flying Horse, Kingfisher, and Hitachino. The menu will also feature non-alcoholic drinks such as an Iced Jasmine Green Tea with Longan Honey and housemade Vietnamese Coffee. PhoBar will introduce a menu of signature cocktails utilizing ingredients such as sugarcane, avocado, lychee, and passionfruit, shortly after opening.

There is Iced Honey Jasmine Green Tea with local honey served in a mason jar. It was a little too fragrant for me but very refreshing.

 

 The coconut drink was very earthy with a delightful coconut taste - and served right in the fruit (or nut or seed!) I loved this drink. My dining partner - who is a certified dietitian and nutritionist, explained how good the coconut water is for us - the Qui Chi - water and passion fruit in the drink is very hydrating.

I also tried this IPA Beer. Very good with the spicy entrees.


PhoBar sautees their sauces for their fresh spring rolls and summer rolls with is delicious bright way to eat these jewels. They also serve up classic Vietnamese fish sauce.

These rolls look like they are wrapped in glissine -- they are so exuberant - and just as delicious.

The sautéed Brussels Sprouts are WOW -- so creamy yet crispy. 

Phobar's spicy rich broth is cooked in three “tiers:” 8 hours, 16, or 25 hours. The “Crazy Rich Broth” that is cooked with love for the 25 hours is available exclusively at the Chinatown PhoBar. Go for it -- the bone broth is richer and sweeter in taste. This is a singular experience not to be missed.

When we were satiated with the abundance of absolutely tasty and good-looking food - artfully presented, we enjoyed a fresh, light, perfect pineapple dessert.


Even the restroom is well-appointed! Look at this cherry blossom rich loo! Even the ceiling is back lit to showcase pretty pink blooms..
Lovely attention to detail.

The restaurant is open from 11:00am - 11:00pm Monday through Sunday.  I highly recommend PhoBar.  You just can't make this rich, nuanced, ingredient-dependent cuisine at home.  One needs to have grown up with the cooking culture and then know how to pivot to make it a modern and sophisticated take on the dishes.  You can eat here everyday and find something new and exciting.

And it’s always an adventure to explore the exotic sights, sounds, and traditions of Chinatown.

      

 

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Style: Elegant Green Tablescape Design

Green is the go-to color inspiration when creating a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Naturally.

So when I saw that North Fork, micro-green grower, Koppert Cress, was offering green, edible orchids, I was immediately smitten. Who can resist orchids? (By the way - I surely hope you’ve visited the outstanding NYBG Orchid Show this year with its dazzling homage to Singapore.)

I can almost see a lot of you scratching your heads -- edible orchids? Yes, indeed. While our beloved vanilla comes from the orchid plant (Vanilla planifolia) - there are so many edible orchid blooms. Recently, at a post-theater tiki cocktail hour indulgence with garden design client and family, I popped the orchid garnish in my mouth - to an astonished, “oh no!” response. I assured them it’s all quite healthy and luxuriously delicious…

So when I saw the green orchids in an email (while on vacation) - I had a swoon-worthy moment of inspiration for a green tablescape for St. Patrick’s Day.



Yessss - these green beauties would not only elevate the elegance element - I could help “educate” others to the orchids’ edible prowess. As if just being beautiful wasn’t enough! Ha.

Even from our beach retreat - I was conjuring the tablescape design.
Surely, this was indeed a bit of good luck already…

For those of you who follow me regularly, you know i don’t like to use all-too-common St. Patrick’s day tropes (those rather cartoonish characters that unwittingly denigrate the rich history of Ireland). I rather choose to celebrate the culture - especially the great Irish writers, builders/architects, and gardeners and horticulturists.

Last year, I designed the tablescape to honor great Irish women writers.

This year I was channeling the magic and fairies of Irish legend and lore. Maybe because I just want to be enchanted more in this increasingly dystopian society -- and/or maybe because while we were away, I finally finished reading my friend Frank Vizard’s just-published novel, Screamer - that weaves Irish mystery, (a banshee!), along with history and legend into its adventure. (Get this book!)

So now I had an idea and a theme - a story to tell - for the tablescape design. This is what distinguishes and elevates the art of the tablescape from merely pretty.

Now it was time to get it all placed to great effect.

In a break from my usual desire to show the beautiful wood of our antique dining table, this holiday I determined that wearin’ a bit of the green should include the table, too. I used a forest green tablecloth, topped with a sparkly, shamrock-strewn fabric I spotted at Joanne’s when shopping for the Valentine’s Day table decor. This could serve as a kind of table runner.

(Did you know that there are “millions of hue variations on green that the typical human eye can perceive”?) You can feel free to mix and match more than a few shades or hues of this most popular color.

Plus, with the Spring Equinox on March 20th, the green look (minus the shamrocks) will take you through a Spring Tablescape till we get to Easter/Passover/Ramadan.

With the foundation in place, I placed green glass plates in between the Lenox Trianna blush bowl and gold accents. Green trellis napkins and gold napkin rings picked up on the color balance and texture.

To my eye, lots of detail adds delight and surprise to a well-designed table meant for entertaining. And for St. Patrick’s Day - that means lots of crystal, “precious” metals, and - whimsy.

I have a favorite Danish store on Broadway, Flying Tiger, where I peruse the aisles for items I can use - along with my home inventory -- and all are essentially re-purposed. Meaning, the items are not intended for a table design. The creativity of the artful tablescape design pursuit comes into play when you determine what things can be used in a way that helps tell an entertaining tabletop tale.

For example, I purchased two purple-colored magic Eight Balls -- that in a nod to serendipity - matched the center of the orchids! The magic Query balls will be fun for us and guests to ask “searing” life questions as part of our dinner conversations… wink, wink.



I determined that I wanted to float those gorgeous green orchids. Hmmm - how to do it in a more embellished fashion? It came to me. Place the water-filled Waterford bowl with some green glitter beads - that I placed on another serving glass dish rimmed with green moss - and lit the bowl with immersible lights so that at night the orchids “glow.”


Now is the time to bring out those garden sprites!

I also selected shamrock chocolates, Louis Sherry premium chocolate tins,


and the oxalis, shamrock or “love” plants -- it’s actually a wood sorrel - at our favorite, Sickles Market.

The plants look charming in my light green orchid chinoiserie planters -- (more shades of green with a nod back to the green plates.)


I bought the jade green hearts at a new boutique, Oyster General that opened last month.

The “emerald gems” and soft green mini dishes and bowls are from Flying Tiger (the bowls and plates are actually Japanese matcha servers).

This year again, in a kind of whimsical yet respectful ode to a part of Irish history - I placed a potato in each of the little green bowls next to the place settings. The spud color also complements the orchid and magic balls. (You do know that Peru gifted the world potatoes, right? Thousands of spud varieties. Love those purple beauties. And when I worked in Ecuador for a number of Januarys - the highway to and from the airport to the sierra up to Hacienda Cusin was filled with trucks carrying potatoes to export.)

The ornate silver cups and crown musical boxes are decorative accessories that call to mind castles and knights. Use mirrors under any number of items to amplify the look. On a couple of the mirrors I spray-painted gold -- because, well - you can never have too much glitter.
I also sprinkled green glitter on the tablecloth as the last addition to glam it up.

I used the cups to discreetly “hide” battery-operated lights for the evening dinner table’s entertaining glow.


And the glow from under the orchids is so lovely.



Supermarket florals work just fine for this design. I like the bright green of the mini-mums and the hypericum - these darlings are a long-lasting work-horse - and add so much depth to a floral design. I used them on the table - in a vase and in the unicorn vases. The green fish glass accessories honor Ireland’s abundant coastline and fishing)
,



And the cut flowers are also on the cocktail tables in our garden room and in the hallway welcome entrance. I also love the sparkly, green-glitter books - a reference to Irish writers. And guests can sign!




The place card holders are green garden topiaries that I use often and work very well here.
I also added a few green glass pieces to the table and green beads scattered about.
I purchased two gold glitter tubes to use - laid on their sides - and added my purple magic wand! I can better cast a spell for my guests and Bill. (love :)

I used our wedding crystal wine glasses for an appetizer of green and purple salad greens -- an elevated, tasty treat.

Day or evening, the Green Tablescape is now a lovely delight.



I hope you enjoyed the creation process as much as I did. Here’s a few video tours for you.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Sláinte! Now it’s time to whip up some special green cocktails.

Shop the site. (links provided)

 
Thank you for allowing me to share a glamorous, green tablescape -- as the art of entertaining..

Spring into the Season: Learn Gardening Essentials - From Design to Growing Gourmet to the Power of Native Plants

Does your mouth water when you think about cooking with just-harvested edibles from the garden?

Does your heart melt when when you view roses scrambling over a trellis and clematis peeking through?

Does your head spin when you attempt to make an edible or ornamental garden actually work?

Good news! The Atlantic Highlands Historical Society (AHHS) is offering a Free workshop, Saturday, March 30, 1:00 pm, located at 27 Prospect Circle, Atlantic Highlands, that will provide a mix of information and hands-on tips to help you:

• Create a beautiful and ecologically based garden 

• Combine ornamental trees, shrubs, perennials, and bulbs - along with edibles, and annuals 

• Emphasize using strong native plants in order to sustain our local environment

• Utilize Plant Combinations - Right Plant for the Right Place

• Garden Maintenance, including watering and weeding

Local, award-winning garden designer and horticulturist, Leeann Lavin, principal of Duchess Designs, LLC -- (That's me!!) will host the talk, provide hands-on planning tools, guide you through the fundamentals of the gardening process and give you the confidence to grow and maintain your gardens.

“The Spring Into the Garden” talk is a distillation of what I have learned and practiced over more than two decades of immersion in garden design and horticulture, as a graduate of The New York Botanical Garden’s Landscape Design certificate program, writer, author, lecturer, and with her garden-to-tablescape designs - a hospitality artist.

“Every good garden design tells a story,” I tell my clients.  “Gardens are personal - whether you have a container garden, a raised bed, a terrace, a border or yard, you can tell your story with the right mix of plant combinations, a design that works with your architectural style and site conditions to create garden rooms that will bring you joy in every season for years to come and enhance your lifestyle. And all that starts with a good plan.”

Accompanied by a seasonal, homegrown botanical tea, the March 30th presentation includes:

• A mix of lush, colorful images of gardens and plants to inspire; 

• A step by step plan and checklist to get you focused; 

• How to draw up a site analysis that you can refine and implement;

• How to produce a Go-To Plant list for your home landscape that includes a mix of Natives, Perennials, and Edibles

• A Doable Maintenance schedule 

The “Spring Into the Garden” talk will culminate with a walk around the AHHS Strauss Museum to view the mansion’s landscape.

The Historical Society is seeking volunteers to get their hands in the soil and help reclaim the magic of these gardens at the Strauss Mansion Museum at 27 Prospect Circle. “We want folks to think of the Strauss Mansion Museum landscape and gardens as their community garden -- a place they can come to work and help rescue these neglected garden rooms and bring them back to life,” said Lynn Fylak, president, AHHS. “We are encouraging budding botanists of all ages to bring their friends and family to enjoy gardening here - for an hour or two -- whatever their schedules permit and to delight getting their hands in the soil.”

The gardens will enhance the Strauss Museum’s unique and special event programs. “What’s lovelier than sitting on the wrap-around porch in the summer with a view of pretty gardens while listening to wafting music -- and fragrance -- during our monthly program events -- especially at our popular Music at the Mansion series?”



** While the Talk is free, please register so that the AHHS can provide seating and refreshments for all guests.
(Lynn Fylak at: lynnfylak@gmail.com )

Garden Design Showcase

In related news, The Atlantic Highlands Historical Society announces its first Gardeners Showcase during spring and summer 2019.


The AHHS at the Strauss Museum invites local nurseries and garden designers to show off their skills and creativity in one of the gardens that grace the Strauss Mansion Museum estate, which is listed on the New Jersey and the National Register of Historic Places.

Participants, in return for their effort and contribution, will not only enjoy overwhelming respect and garden love -- they will receive:

• Signage that identifies their business, at each garden showcase site. This signage will be viewed by the visitors to the Strauss Museum during the spring, summer and fall.

• Recognition on the AHHS Strauss Museum and the Atlantic Highlands websites and publicity on its social-media platforms (Facebook).

• Publicity through news releases sent to regional media (including Two River Times, Asbury Park Press, The Star Ledger, Patch, NJ.Com, Garden Glamour, GardenerNews, Monmouth County weekly newspapers, blogs and social media, and more).

• A one-year, Supporter (membership) to the AHHS Museum. Good for admission to the event programs at AHHS as well as six performance tickets chosen between Music at the Mansion nights and Nosferatu.

Also the company name or logo will be placed on all social media, AHHS website and press releases.

The AHHS Strauss Museum will place an attractive sign in “your” garden and on a stand-up banner to be kept on the porch and put out for all guest events.

To secure a spot in this year’s Gardeners Showcase, or to obtain more information, please contact Lynn Fylak at: lynnfylak@gmail.com 

And Good News!  As reported in the Patch, "The Strauss Mansion in Atlantic Highlands received two grants from Monmouth County this March, and part of the money will go towards refurbishing the historic local property."   Be a part of this jewel by the sea - the AHHS is a resource and a cultural centerpiece.