Famous S.F. restaurant to open palatial new location — with a ‘secret' kitchen

San Francisco Chronicle​

4 hours ago

A San Francisco restaurant recognized as a trailblazer for Vietnamese cuisine's widespread adoption into the mainstream is finally ready to open its long-awaited new home.
In a moment five years in the making, Crustacean will open its new Financial District location on July 18, allowing diners to slurp up the restaurant's storied garlic noodles and crack into whole roasted crabs inside a palatial space. The venerable restaurant's latest chapter comes after operating on Polk Street for over 30 years, with second generation owner Monique An, daughter of founder Helene An, and her husband, Kenneth Lew, now stewarding the restaurant.
Monique An said finding a home for the family's flagship restaurant dates back to before the COVID-19 pandemic, with several options around the city on the table. The past five years have been full of hurdles and false starts as the Financial District has struggled to recover, with office vacancy rates still high and workers slow to return to the neighborhood. But at Crustacean's new home at 195 Pine St., the buildout is finally complete, tables are set, and both staff and relatives are ready to cook.
'We've been here for 34 years, so we're really excited for this new chapter,' she said.
The An family first arrived in San Francisco in the 1970s following the fall of Saigon. Monique An's grandmother Diana bought an Italian deli in the Sunset District, in which the family opened its first restaurant, Thanh Long. Crustacean built on that foundation by offering Vietnamese cooking with an air of fine dining when it opened in 1990. The family empire has expanded into San Jose, the Los Angeles area and even Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with the opening of a Crustacean last year.
The relaunch on Pine Street will include a menu that spans lunch and dinner, from options like banh mi stuffed with vegetables and filet mignon, and grilled prawns with a mango salad. The most prized dishes, such as the garlic noodles, tiger prawns and the famous roasted crabs, will still be made in a separate kitchen, dubbed the 'House of An Secret Kitchen,' which only family members can access. It's a tradition that dates back to Thanh Long because people would walk in to spy on the cooking, according to family lore. More importantly, it serves as a means to preserve family tradition, An noted, after the family had to quickly leave all their material possessions in Vietnam.
At the new Crustacean, the secret kitchen is behind two sets of double doors and in the southern terminus of the floor plan — the cardinal direction representing fire — for good feng shui. An said the space and recipes inside are so sacred to the clan that even Crustacean's chefs were never granted access. Though Lew notes there's one way of getting in.
'I had to put in many years cooking and marry into the family,' he said, shooting a happy glance at An.
There will also be new dishes that feel seasonal, modern and luxurious at the new Crustacean. Think kohlrabi Caesar salads, grilled prawns with a mango salad and banh khôt, savory Vietnamese-style pancakes. The latter will be a lunch item and can include ingredients like king crab, Wagyu beef or mushrooms. Smaller items include the eye-catching tuna cigar, with tartare swaddled in a crispy wrapper then served, appropriately, in a cigar box billowing with smoke from cedar wood chips.
The rose gold bar, with room for 14 stools, will offer a straightforward list of wines from Napa, Sonoma and international regions, along with cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks with Vietnamese and Asian influences. Expect beverages like a Saigon 75, the house take on the classic French 75 incorporating Vietnamese Song Cai gin, and others using spirits like a lemongrass-infused mezcal. Soursop juice, rose agar and candied ginger further lean into a southeast Asian influence.
Bringing the new location to life was a family effort that included An's sister Elizabeth, the family restaurant group's in-house designer. She worked in conjunction with Newport Beach firm Jh2 Architects and took inspiration from the family's sultry Southern California restaurant AnQi Bistro.
The elegant, modern interior taps into the owners' Vietnamese heritage, with tropical wood furnishings, rose gold metal fixtures and antique mirrors Elizabeth An imported from Vietnam. The most striking piece: a pair of ornate antique doors dating to 18th century Vietnam.
'They're pretty tall and have lots of carved details,' Lew said of the 10-foot-tall doors. The high ceilings and plentiful natural light add to the refined feel of the dining room, he added. After dark, the dining room takes on a more intimate feel with its soft, amber-hued lighting designed by San Francisco consultants Electrolight.
'Our diners will definitely be wowed when they walk in,' Monique An said.
Crustacean. Opens July 18. 195 Pine St. San Francisco. Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday. Dinner: 5-9 p.m., Sunday-Thursday. 5-9:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. crustaceansf.com