| Ana Mandara is the heavily-hyped new Vietnamese restaurant owned by TV stars Don Johnson and Cheech Marin of "Nash Bridges," but it's miles ahead of other celeb-owned spots in terms of inspired food and its colonial Vietnamese décor.Chef Khai Duong, who graduated from Paris' Cordon Bleu at the top of his class, worked previously at Le Bernardin in New York and at Le Colonial in Beverly Hills, and is considered one of the top Vietnamese chefs working today. Here, he crafts such dishes as the inspired basa, a fish he has specially flown in from the Mekong Delta and serves caramelized in a spicy citrus sauce; a highly rated appetizer of bass ceviche with pickled cucumber, fried shallots and chopped peanuts; and banana blossom salad with poached chicken and cellophane noodles.Desserts include a crème brulee, a fascinating "napoleon" of caramelized bananas lavered with crisp phyllo, and a pistachio parfait in coconut tapioca sauce. There's even a signature cocktail, the Ana Mandara, a blend of vodka, lemongrass, and mint.Ana Mandara was designed to recreate the colonial Vietnamese aesthetic, and its dreamy ambience and luxurious upstairs bar add an element of fantasy to the dining experience -- as does the visual presentation of the dishes, with garnishes of banana and ti leaves. |
