Falansai is Bringing Vietnamese Cuisine with a ChaoZhou and French Twist to Bushwick, Brooklyn

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/5/prweb10789132.htm

Brooklyn, NY (PRWEB) May 31, 2013

Falansai Vietnamese Kitchen just opened its doors in Brooklyn, New York, bringing Vietnamese cuisine with a twist to the Bushwick neighborhood. Reflecting the cross-pollinated culture of Vietnam, dishes blend the heritage of Vietnamese street-food food with French flavors and Chinese cuisine, particularly from the ChaoZhou region.
The 54-seat restaurant is owned by Henry Trieu, who grew up cooking Vietnamese and Chinese dishes in his mother’s kitchen. Growing up in Vietnam, Henry’s father often told stories of his experience with the Falansai (faa-laan-sai). His father had left Chaozhou, a region in Southern China, for Vietnam during World War II to escape war and drought, and scraped a living together by transporting catfish from the Mekong Delta to Saigon. He frequently had to travel over washed out roads and dodge Falansai checkpoints. Later on, he worked as a taxi driver ferrying the well-to-dos around town and his passengers were often the Falansai.
“For much of my childhood, I imagined the Falansai to be a powerful and fascinating tribe. Only years later did I realize that Falansai was my father’s phonetic butchering of the word ‘francais’ – the French,” said Henry Trieu, owner and chef at Falansai. “The Falansai menu features the flavors of my childhood. Like much of the cross-pollinated culture of Vietnam, the food of Vietnam incorporates a rich influence of Chaozhou and French cuisine.”
The dinner menu includes favorites like fresh summer rolls, shaking beef, green papaya salad and clay pot catfish, as well as less familiar items like braised pork belly, ginger chicken and potatoes, and spicy sade shrimps with okra. In time for the Bushwick Open Studios (BOS) weekend, the restaurant just added classic Vietnamese lunch dishes, such as pho (noodle soup) and banh mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwiches) to its lunch menu.
“Nothing embodies this cooking heritage as deliciously as Pho (pronounced FUH). It is a soup that starts with the beef and charred onion of the French classic pot-au-feu, blends in the clear broth and rice noodles of the Chinese, and finishes with traditional Vietnamese spices,” explained Trieu.
Catering to the local community, the Falansai Vietnamese Kitchen menu offers a range of vegetarian and gluten-free dishes. The restaurant also offers seasonal produce and changes dishes on a weekly basis.
Vietnamese, local and international beers as well as a carefully curated selection of wines – including a range of German and local Riesling wines – match the flavors of the food.
The interior of the Falansai restaurant was designed with recycled materials: French doors turned into windows and industrial lamps from an abandoned eatery illuminate the space. Birdcages lights and banana plants give the space a Southeast Asian vibe.
About Falansai Vietnamese Kitchen
Falansai Vietnamese Kitchen brings Vietnamese cuisine with a twist to the streets of Bushwick, Brooklyn. Reflecting the cross-pollinated culture of Vietnam, dishes blend the heritage of Vietnamese street-food food with French flavors and Chinese cuisine, particularly from the ChaoZhou region. The 54-seat restaurant is owned by Henry Trieu who grew up in Vietnam. The restaurant was named after the chef’s father’s mispronunciation of the world français. Many menu items are adaptations of family recipes.
Bushwick Daily has called Falansai “instant nirvana” in their “6 Spots in Bushwick That You Should Not Miss” for Asian flavors.
The restaurant is located at 112 Harrison Place, Brooklyn, NY 11237.
For more information, please visit http://falansai.com/, or https://www.facebook.com/Falansai, and follow Falansai on Twitter @falansai.