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La Nouvelle Paris
RIP: Date Unknown |
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New Place on the rue Gôut |
Paris by way of Saigon |
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In my professional life these days I’m immersed in "roadmapping"—the development of technology and product plans in certain markets of interest. I don’t know what it is about consuming activities, but they have a way of intruding into what really ought to be down time. You want to kick back, pull the plug on the objective, rational perspective for a while, and just savor a good meal to whatever extent that’s possible for an overly analytical engineer. Instead, a lunch out ends up as fodder for a roadmapping exercise on the restaurant marketplace. Consider Vietnamese restaurants. They’ve been a notable part of the cuisine scene in the Twin Cities for nearly 20 years. Some phases and milestones can be distinguished over this period. The mantra of the first wave, which lasted pretty much through the 1980s, was "slightly different from Chinese." Then as Midwestern palates became accustomed to this variation on a familiar theme, new establishments sprang up that were willing to expose us to other facets of the complex landscape of Vietnamese cuisine. So began the second phase, represented by pho soups, multicolor dessert drinks, and other exotica. La Nouvelle Paris might be the harbinger of a new trend, one that emphasizes the French colonial influence on the country’s food. The name itself troubles me a little, although I can’t decide if it’s false advertising or just a case of Paris envy. The menu lists French and Vietnamese dishes separately, in English that provides some unadvertised entertainment ("garçon, I’ll have the streamed mussels and the escagoes"). I had hoped to see more fusion of the two cuisines (no, not the English) but with few exceptions was disappointed. I ordered a noodle salad with grilled pork. The pork was grilled just right although the marinade could have been "turned up another notch" in intensity. The noodles sat on a bed of lettuce that appeared to suffer in aroma as a consequence (I’m still digestively healthy, let me hasten to add). To wash down your food there is quite an array of interesting drinks available, in particular pearled fruit juices blended with ice. Despite my reputation for adventurousness, however, I just went with the Vietnamese iced coffee; it wasn’t as rich and creamy as some versions but when one has to get back to generating roadmaps it’s best to stick to lighter fare. LNP is in the space that used to be occupied by Royal Orchid (for my money the best Thai restaurant in town, now in Roseville). Readers who recall it will recall its shabby state. Fortunately there’s been extensive remodeling and refurbishing. Gleaming white walls, gleaming mirrors on walls, gleaming metal frames surrounding mirrors; the place is obviously new and obviously not broken in (or broken into—a concern that the RO proprietors used to have) as yet. It won’t be too hard to keep it gleaming if the place doesn’t attract more customers. In the hour or so we sat there, there was exactly one other diner seen. But the place has only just opened, so let’s give it the benefit of any early doubts—and hold off on judgement until at least we’ve tried a few more items on the extensive menu! Being first to market isn’t always the path to success, unfortunately. Often it’s advantageous to let someone else chart new waters—and founder on their shoals. The key milestones in the roadmap of Vietnamese cuisine in the Twin Cities aren’t the restaurants that marked the beginnings of phases, but the ones that became recognized for quality and consistency. The two sets haven’t overlapped in the past, but we’ll see if La Nouvelle Paris can beat the trend and join the ranks of the original Kinh Do and the still incomparable Quang, a few blocks down "Eat Street." A |
I am convinced that an NEH grant can be had for a study of how the culinary relationship between the colonizer and the colonized evolves overtime. First, obviously, hate, then gradual feelings of overwhelming nostalgia; things in hindsight were pretty good. This is the stage that the proprietors of La Nouvelle Paris find themselves in. Their cuisine is a marriage between French and traditional Vietnamese cooking. The results are not as miscegenational as one might expect, the distinctive Vietnamese or French features are retained. The restaurant is spacious and can seat many more than were present the day of this lunch. The décor is a cool white, one that would be welcoming from the tropical heat of the rain forest. The wait-staff, with no customers to serve, stood listening to Vietnamese rock but as an obvious concession to us the music was switched to soft French pop. The menu is large with its share of funny typos and odd phrases and already shows signs of penned in corrections even though the restaurant has only been open a week. I ordered a pineapple juice with "pearls"; this was quite delicious. The pearls are little balls of dough that you suck up through a largish straw. For my main (and only) dish I had rice with special beef. This proved to be a pretty dull choice and not very good. I am loathe to give the place a bad review after only one visit because it’s very possible that I chose the worst thing on the menu. My friend’s dish seemed very good by comparison though he will probably dispute this assertion. The bill was around $23.00 (tip included). We didn’t look at the wine list; my friend being preoccupied with a work reorganization had meetings for the rest of the day and didn’t want to befuddle his mind with wine. One could have had a better, cheaper Vietnamese meal elsewhere but I am willing to give La Nouvelle Paris the benefit of the doubt and ascribe the faults to birthing trauma. B |
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