Dà Lat Rose Presents the Meal of a Lifetime

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY TAMARA PALMER

It’s taken me months to process just how much I enjoyed dining at the House of An’s newest restaurant, Dà Lat Rose, which presents an intimate 12-course tasting menu described as a “gastrobiography” of the family matriarch Helene An in a space above the Beverly Hills location of their enduring hit, Crustacean. I have come to the same conclusion that I had when I left the restaurant nearly in tears back in November, shortly after it opened — I have never had a meal more infused with love, thoughtfulness, whimsy and meaning.

Helene An’s life has been nothing short of remarkable and the Dà Lat Rose tasting menu (executed by executive chef Tony Nguyen) narrates many of its milestones, including growing up as the youngest of 17 children in an aristocratic family who had three private chefs (one Chinese, one French and one Vietnamese), escaping the country during the fall of Saigon, living in a refugee camp in Guam, eventually settling in San Francisco, where she transformed an old Italian deli that her mother-in-law bought on a whim during a vacation into the crab and garlic noodle institution, Thanh Long, and later conquering Southern California with Crustacean, AnQi and The District by Hannah An (one of Helene’s five daughters).

“I believe that food must not only taste good, but also be good for you,” Helene wrote in An: To Eat (Recipes and Stories from a Vietnamese Family Kitchen. “How food feels on the palate is also very important to me. Food shouldn’t be heavy, sticky, overpowering, fatty or oily. Complex flavors and textures must always be balanced with freshness and lightness.”

Thanks to the generosity of the An family, it is my pleasure to guide you through what an evening at Dà Lat Rose looks like, with hopes that you’ll be able to experience the tasting menu and cocktail pairings for yourself one day.

*Guests are greeted at the velvet roped entrance and ascend a candlelit staircase*

*The experience begins in the lounge, where four courses are served directly at the bar or at low-slung tables for an on-the-street happy hour feel.*

*Da Chanh: mango, kaffir lime oleo-saccharum, Thai basil, vodka, Lichi-Li, Kimino yuzu soda*

*In Flames: razor clam grilled over white coals and served with Vietnamese balm*

*In Hiding 1948: Bamboo rice, turmeric, lime leaf chicken oyster, roasted quail jus, garlic chive*

*The Return: escargot banh xeo with A5 tallow, rau ram, melted bean sprout, wood ear and shiitake mushroom, cucumber and garlic lime cloud*

*The Return pairs with Roots & Rose Lager (fresh carrot, taro, lime vodka, DLR rose beer)*

*The Catch: Santa Barbara stone crab claw with lemongrass butter candle and bird’s eye chili salt*

*You’re then whisked into the dining room for the rest of the experience, which begins with a welcome DIY banh mi service of deconstructed sandwich elements.*

Mastery & Monastery: Goi Dà Lat (banana blossom, kohlrabi, red water radish, crispy rau muong, white jelly mushroom, avocado) paired with Beet Juice (beet juice, mangosteen, Brooklyn Gin, black salt, egg white)

*The Union: King Crab Banh Khot with coconut béchamel and Royal Keluga caviar paired with Chrysanthemum Tea (chrysanthemum honey, calamansi, Luxardo and Tombo Soju)*

*Finding Hope in Guam: Ca Chien (tilefish in fish sauce pesto with malabar spinach) paired with Coconut Water (turmeric, coconut, fresh mango, lime, Rhum JM50)*

*The American Dream: AN’s Famous Garlic Noodle with Santa Barbara sea urchin and 24K gold paired with The New Colossus (Cocchi Americano, Botanist Gin, Ketel One infused with grapefruit and rum)*

The Infusion (orange blossom honey, Peychaud’s, Suntory Toki and rose ice cube) paired with In Collaboration (Pork Thit Kho with braised quail egg, Vietnamese caramel, activated charcoal rice, fermented mustard greens)

The Chocolate Bar (turmeric, Malahat Spiced Rum, Mestizo Mezcal infused with Marou Vietnamese dark chocolate) paired with The Legacy Lives On (Wagyu Bo Kho tamale with Snake River Farms Wagyu, su su “Buddha’s Palm” and heirloom carrots.

Palette Cleanser: Vietnamese Yogurt Gin Fizz (Vietnamese rose yogurt, kaffir lime, Tori Kai, Martin Miller’s Westbourne, Italicus) paired with Celebration (Coconut Tapioca Che with jackfruit, pandas, lychee, rambutan and longan)

*Sweet Lingers: chocolate avocado bites and custard with chrysanthemum honey paired with a granita of mangosteen, longan, soursop, Lichi-Li and Haku Vodka)*

I’ll tell more of this story in the upcoming one-year anniversary issue of California Eating, the print magazine!

Dà Lat Rose, 466 N. Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills