Fah Thai Magazine Nov-Dec 2018
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HAPPENINGS<br />
VIETNAM<br />
HANOI<br />
SPOTLIGHT<br />
Soul In<br />
Your Nighlife<br />
Just when you think Hanoi has gone<br />
too commercial — too many soulless<br />
venues for a night out — someone<br />
opens a new place that renews your<br />
faith in this city. Monsoon is one.<br />
Opening in September of this year, and<br />
somewhat concealed in a basement, it<br />
may be a part of the “Hidden Charm”<br />
promised in brochures and ads by the<br />
tourism authority of Vietnam. And<br />
perhaps it is the odd combination<br />
of the two partners with an artist’s<br />
sensibility that has resulted in such a<br />
disciplined yet delightful environment,<br />
and a focused menu of fine food.<br />
At street level, guests walk past<br />
a wall of bamboo and a high counter<br />
hiding the kitchen then are invited<br />
down a few stone steps reminiscent<br />
of Japanese gardens. Go through the<br />
unadorned double door and you are<br />
greeted in an anteroom with leather<br />
couches surrounding a contemporary<br />
metal fireplace. Enjoy a glass of wine<br />
and a quick chat with the owners,<br />
Khuat Tuan-Anh, a graduate of the<br />
Harvard Kennedy School of government,<br />
and Le Vinh, a Columbia University-trained<br />
urban designer turned food designer,<br />
both with a penchant for small venues that<br />
are exquisite, relaxing, and a shelter from<br />
the bustle of Vietnam’s capital city.<br />
For Monsoon, Tuan-Anh and Vinh<br />
bring select fish and meat from the US,<br />
which they cure and pickle themselves.<br />
Their salted duck breasts are simply<br />
delicious. But if you’re hankering for<br />
something more local, there is a beef<br />
noodle soup that’s flavourful and true<br />
to its Vietnamese roots. The owners<br />
claim to keep the wine list limited,<br />
avoiding anything pretentious or too<br />
expensive. Yet, what they serve fits<br />
well with the dishes, and an evening<br />
at Monsoon will be remembered<br />
with delight. Tuan-Anh has already<br />
mounted several branches of a café<br />
named Tranquil, as well as a small<br />
concept store with an attached café<br />
called Vui. It is astonishing that in<br />
a city consumed with social media<br />
and selfies, Tranquil spaces are often<br />
a refuge for people quietly reading<br />
a book, working on a hand-drawn<br />
design, or simply having a hushed<br />
conversation. Monsoon: 77 Nguyen <strong>Thai</strong><br />
Hoc Street, Hanoi, +84 (0) 96 325 6477,<br />
8am-10pm; Tranquil Cafés: 5<br />
Nguyen Quang Bich Street, Hanoi,<br />
+84 (0) 98 938 4541, 8am-10.30pm,<br />
18b Nguyen Bieu Street, Hanoi,<br />
+84 (0) 98 938 4541, 8am-10.30pm<br />
TANNIN WINE BAR<br />
Real wine lovers can opt for the more<br />
elaborate Tannin Wine Bar, in the centre<br />
of Hanoi’s old quarter. By elaborate,<br />
we mean the wine selection: over 400<br />
varieties, including an impressive array of<br />
champagnes. This comes with no surprise<br />
as two of the owners, Sylvan Bournigault<br />
and his wife Van Anh, have been importing<br />
wine into Vietnam for over 15 years and<br />
still run Celliers d’Asie. Van Anh is easily<br />
the most knowledgeable wine connoisseur<br />
in Hanoi: she is professional and dedicated<br />
in her formal wine studies, and travels<br />
throughout Europe in search of fine wines<br />
from dozens of vintners.<br />
The other two owners, Matt and Thu,<br />
have dreamed of a wine bar for a decade,<br />
and finally settled on a typical Hanoi tube<br />
house — the same house where Thu was born, and still owned by<br />
her family. It’s narrow but well laid out with high tables on one<br />
side and a long bar on another. Large chalkboards make it easy<br />
to select your wines — or the cold cuts and specialty dishes that<br />
can keep you from getting too drunk.<br />
The partners are in the establishments most nights to mingle<br />
with the guests. At any moment, you’ll hear Vietnamese and<br />
English — with Australian, American and British accents. And if<br />
you’re there late enough, you might catch Sylvain claiming in his<br />
native French, “Je suis saoule — I am drunk.” For your information,<br />
“saoule” is pronounced exactly as the word “soul!” 46 Hang Vai,<br />
Hanoi, opens 2pm til midnight, +84 (0) 90 478 9482<br />
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