Starry Kitchen makes it’s triumphant return to the culinary world on August 16th. After becoming a culinary phenomenon a few years ago while operating (illegally) out of their apartment kitchen, Nguyen and Thi Tran took their talent to Downtown Los Angeles and became a “must eat” spot for anyone who considered themselves a foodie. Fast forward to today, they “closed” their original DTLA spot earlier this month and, after a few weeks of wild speculation by the LA foodie crowd, will be setting up shop at Tiara Café just a few blocks away.
The new iteration will be called Starry Kitchen Nights @ Tiara Café. They’ll be serving up their delicious Asian family-style cuisine every Tues-Sat from 5-10pm. The Tran’s intend for this to the home of Starry Kitchen for the long haul so Southern California foodies should rejoice.
Here’s what Nguyen had to say about the latest manifestation of their menu:
Singaporean Chili Crab – It’s not your normal crab (and VERY hard to find in LA): it’s bread dippin-licious crab that sits in a spicy strong stew (with all it’s “good stuff” mixing in to make that stew SO crab-tastic!). Grab a beer (and more bread) and eat that CRAB UP! Warning: Asian eat crabs, by ONLY using our hands. No annoying dainty forks here suckas (and it’s better to dip that bread with your hands anyway!)
Niman Ranch Ribeye Beef Satay Noodles – We lightly coat rice noodles in turmeric to give it a nice yellow tint (and for flavor) and dredge it in a special dried shrimp peanut sauce topped off w/ supa-dupa thin slices or Niman Ranch Ribeye Beef, mint, cucumber and cute lil tomatoes. Warning: this dish tastes like ASIA (aka this dish is VERY Asian, and not for everyone.. beware! ^_^)
Carmelized Claypot Striped Bass+Pancetta in Young Coconut Juice – In Vietnamese this is called “Ca Kho To”, and the traditional once is made w/ Catfish and Pork Belly (also very good). It’s just our fun take on a classic Vietnamese dish (aka THE dish I want to eat as my last meal). It’s saucy, savor, and who woulda thought pork and fish could work together so well in a claypot, huh?!?!
Malaysian Chicken Curry – Ok, so we HAVE served this at the original SK, and I DID also call this the “mouth love maker” (because for me, eating this was like making SWEET love to my mouth). Basics: Malay curry is one of the STRONGEST curries out there, and we combine it with a special Indonesian chili that’s made in the Netherlands to give it a nice kick and more flavor, but this time around we’re serving it with (get ready for this folks) succulent meat… on the BONE as we Asians usually eat meat. OH YES!
Pandan Chicken – We’ve done a few times @ SK, but because Pandan itself is fairly expensive AND this dish being almost as labor intensive as the Crispy Tofu Balls (which will have inevitably come with us to SK Nights @ Tiara Cafe). It’s chunks of chicken thigh (sorry kiddos, no white meatsies in this house ;D) marinated in shallots, fish sauce, lemongrass and galangal, then wrapped in the long aromatic pandan leaf and then fried which will infuse w/ the pandan aroma. When you eat it, it’s like unwrapping a fun savory christmas present that everyone can enjoy.. unless you eat all of them, then no one but YOU will enjoy it. LOL
Savory Pork Wonton’s in Chili Oil w/ Cold Szechuan Shredded Potatoes – Hand-wrapped ground pork wonton’s that swim in an incredibly savory+tasty chili oil mix served w/ these cold+crunchy+spicy-ass potatoes to give a nice marriage of… FLAVOR and texture. “CRUUUUUNCH!”
There will also be complimentary Singha’s during their Grand Opening on the 16th.
People can book a table on the Starry Kitchen website, the Tiara Cafe’s website or call and leave a message on their exclusive reservation line (with a very special long winded outgoing message!) @ (213)814-1123.
Cheers,
Mr.Singha