Eating Out: The Slanted Door

1 Ferry Building #3
San Francisco, CA 94111
415.861.8032

For anyone who lives in the bay area, The Slanted Door is quite possibly the best Vietnamese restaurant I've been to in America -- which is saying a lot, considering how frequently I go out of my way to find authentic Viet cuisine. The food is subtle and exquisite, the atmosphere (located right on the Embarcadero with a splendid view of the Bay Bridge) and architecture are elegant and surprisingly trendy, and the waiters are -- dare I say it? -- actually warm and friendly ... a rare occurrence in Asian restauranting. Try the green papaya salad and the oven roasted Alaskan halibut (above); you won't be sorry.

(After two years, I'm still searching for a good Vietnamese restaurant in the greater New York City area -- if anyone has suggestions, I'm getting desperate.)

Eating Out: Arte Café

106 73rd Street
B/W Amsterdam and Columbus
1/2/3 to 72nd St.
212.501.7014

Quiet and unassuming from the exterior, the Arte Café takes up the ground floor of a series of adjacent UWS townhouses. Obscenely reasonable (especially given the neighborhood; the three-course lunch is $9.95), the prix fixe menus are expansive and enjoyable, if not excellent. The linguine alle vongole was perfectly satisfying, however -- and the salads are killer. Given the beautiful decor and cheery waitstaff, it's certainly worth the trip.

Eating Out: Pho Viet Huong

73 Mulberry Street
B/W Bayard and Canal
6, N/R/Q to Canal St.
212.233.8988

While New York City's Vietnamese restaurants certainly can't hold a candle to most of their Californian counterparts, Pho Viet Huong is a decent joint if you're looking for a quick fix of bun bo hue or pho tai. The service is fairly friendly (particularly for an Asian restaurant ... is that un-PC?), and it's open from 10 am to 10 pm every day (and until 11 pm on Friday and Saturday). Try the pho special and the vegetarian cha gio (spring rolls) for a healthy lunch.

(Hopefully, this will become a running series. We'll see.)