No more making culinary pilgrimages to San Francisco for roasted crab and garlic noodles.
The family of chef Helene An of Crustacean and Thanh Long fame has opened AnQi Shaken & Stirred inside Bloomingdale’s at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara.
The chic Vietnamese bistro and noodle bar had been scheduled to open in March 2020, soon after the grand opening of the upscale store, but COVID-19 shutdowns put those plans on ice.
Now, with the resumption of indoor shopping and dining, the restaurant is serving An’s classics five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday. Takeout is also available.
An’s dishes have been wildly popular since the beginning, as this over-the-top 1991 review from David L. Beck, a longtime Mercury News restaurant critic, shows:
“By the third forkful of Helene An’s garlic noodles, I had a plan. I would divorce my companion, marry An, get the recipe, divorce her and remarry companion No. 1. A man must be flexible, though. Shortly after the crabs arrived, I was revising the last part of that plan to include (a) emergency deliveries to the South Bay, or (b) bigamy.”
It may have taken 30 years to get the roasted crab and noodles to the South Bay, but diners here need only give 24 hours’ notice for the roasted crab (when available; $68). Garlic noodles are always on the menu, of course, as are the popular Shaken Beef, Crispy Orange Peel Chicken and Seafood Rice.
New dishes joining the appetizer menu include Bulgogi Wonton Nachos and Garlic Chicken Wings.
AnQi’s bar offers cocktails, a heavily California wine list (with a few global offerings), eight sake choices and several beer selections. Among the signature cocktails is the Crustacean, with Ciroc vodka, ginger liquor, coconut cream and fresh lime juice, and the Shaken Paradise, with Empress 1908 gin, rose syrup and Fever Tree grapefruit.
An, a refugee from Vietnam, opened Crustacean in San Francisco in 1991 and later in Beverly Hills, then expanded with other concepts to Orange County. Most recently, she and executive chef Tony Nguyen created a 12-course tasting menu for her newest restaurant, Da Lat Rose in Beverly Hills
AnQi is the second San Francisco standout to open a brick-and-mortar in the South Bay this year. Hinodeya Ramen has opened a restaurant in Campbell on South Bascom Avenue.
Details: AnQi serves lunch and early dinner Wednesday-Sunday 2847 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara. 408-398-8994; https://anqisns.com
The Link LonkApril 21, 2021 at 01:49AM
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Chef Helene An brings legendary S.F. crab, garlic noodles to Santa Clara - The Mercury News
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