Birch & Rye, Easy Rider, Bake Sum | Check, Please! Bay Area

On a new Check, Please! Bay Area: In the heart of San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood, Birch & Rye charms guests by reimagining traditional Russian and other Eastern European dishes with Californian flair — and a touch of experimental finesse. Then, in downtown Petaluma, Easy Rider brings Southern classics crafted with quality ingredients to Sonoma: think shrimp and grits, fried chicken, and pork belly biscuits paired with Southern-inspired cocktails and a local selection of Californian wines. Finally, from Oakland’s Great Lake neighborhood comes an intimate bakery with a focus on Asian flavors. At Bake Sum, expect tasty surprises from their ever-changing menu, from mochi bites, to musubi croissant mashups, to okonomiyaki danishes. Reporter Cecilia Phillips closes out this week’s episode in San Jose — home to the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam — discovering perennial Vietnamese eats, treats and entertainment.

#CheckPleaseBayArea #RussianFood #RussianCuisine #Bakery #SouthernFood #SouthernCuisine #CeciliaTriesIt

0:00 Check, Please! Bay Area (Season 18, Episode 14)
1:16 Birch & Rye (San Francisco)
3:00 Three Bay Area guests share their thoughts on Birch & Rye
8:06 Where to find Birch & Rye
8:36 Easy Rider (Petaluma)
10:47 Three Bay Area guests share their thoughts on Easy Rider
15:41 Where to find Easy Rider
16:07 Bake Sum (Oakland)
18:02 Three Bay Area guests share their thoughts on Bake Sum
21:24 Where to find Bake Sum
21:39 Cecilia Tries It: Vietnam Town (San Jose)

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Sbrocco: Contemporary Russian cuisine in San Francisco. Phung: This is like nothing you’ve ever had before. Sbrocco: Classic southern comforts in Petaluma. Ogunkoya: Bacon over everything. [ Laughter ] Sbrocco: And Asian-fusion bakes in Oakland. Torres: Everybody needs to be taking notes. Sbrocco: Just ahead on “Check, Please! Bay Area.” Phillips: Whoa.

That is like jet fuel. That’s a lot of coffee. Sbrocco: Hi, I’m Leslie Sbrocco. Welcome to “Check, Please! Bay Area,” The show where Bay Area residents review and talk about their favorite restaurants. Now, we have three guests, and each one recommends one of their favorite spots.

And the other two Go check them out to see what they think. Joining me at the “Check, Please!” table today are startup Chief Operating Officer Daniel Phung, Anesthesiologist Yemi Ogunkoya, and Tech Construction Company Owner Shivani Torres. Welcome, everyone. Are you ready? Torres: Whoo! Cheers. Sbrocco: Shivani and her friends consider themselves Gastronauts.

They formed a fancy food dinner club to boldly seek new and unexpected culinary adventures. Their latest discovery — a sleek little spot serving a contemporary take on Russian and Eastern European classics. Located in San Francisco’s Noe Valley, it’s Birch & Rye. ♪♪ Waiter: Caviar plate, 2 in 1 walking.

El-Wattar: The food we serve at Birch & Rye is really a culmination of my life’s journey. Being half Russian and half American, it’s looking at the traditional Russian ingredients and methods of preparation through a California lens. Russian food culture is really close to nature. ♪♪

So Birch is named after a traditional Russian drink, and when I was a kid, I knew how to tap birch trees for sap, and Rye is named after rye bread, which was so popular in the Russian food culture that my grandmother used to joke that my grandfather would not have a meal

Unless rye bread was part of it. The dish that I wanted to highlight is called Golubka. From Russian it’s translated as a “little female dove.” The way cabbage rolls look, traditionally they look like doves sitting right next to each other on a wire. Growing up in Communist Russia, we were like those doves.

There’s no individuality. And I wanted to take that one dove out of the big group and create a beautiful environment for her. The dove is sitting right in the middle, and we decorate her nest with beautiful flowers, so she’s happy and comfortable. The modern Russian food movement,

It’s really, really young, just barely a few years old. So I am really excited to be representing that very rare species of restaurant. Sbrocco: Okay Shivani, I love the name Gastronauts. Who thought of that one? Torres: I thought of that one. [ Laughter ] Yeah, and actually the story with Birch & Rye

Is that we had made a plan to go to dinner, and then two people of the three of us got sick. So I went by myself. Sbrocco: Ah-ha! Torres: So I think one of the important things to know about the restaurant is that it’s good for multiple people,

But it’s also good to go as a single diner, and you can really have a world-class experience, no matter how you’re planning on dining that evening. Sbrocco: Take us through — What did you start with? Torres: I did the tasting menu, and actually one thing that they do there

Is they give you like a complimentary first course. The first time I went there was a little Caviar Blini. Sbrocco: Well, they do have a whole caviar-tasting menu as well. Torres: Yeah, the most cutest, tiny, weeniest pancake with the most delicious caviar on top. Explosion of flavor in your mouth.

You get the saltiness. You get the nuttiness of the dough of the pancake. Second time I went, they actually gave me a little shooter of what I would liken to as an interpretation on a Blue Moon. And what they describe that as a natural sort of liquid

That gets distilled out of the bread-making process, and they make their own rye bread. Sbrocco: Now, what about your experience, Daniel? Phung: Oh, I Loved it. When I thought about Birch & Rye, I think “surprise.” Like you walk in from the beautiful, smooth ambiance to every single dish.

So for example, one of my favorite dishes was the potato salad, which wasn’t like your typical July 4th big hearty one-gallon tub of big potato chunks. But instead it was this, like, very delicate mix of perfectly cooked peas and potatoes with dill on top.

This place is so different. It’s a big surprise for me. Sbrocco: Alright and Yemi. what did you start with? Ogunkoya: I started with the borsch. Torres: The borsch, yeah. Ogunkoya: The borsch. It was a lot fuller than I expected. I’ve had beets in, uh, like beet salad,

But I’ve never had beets in sort of that way. Sbrocco: Well, it’s a classic European dish. Ogunkoya: Yeah, I’ve never had that before. Torres: Like a beet coulis. They have also pieces of Wagyu. Phung: This is incredibly delicious. Ogunkoya: I ordered the chef’s menu

Because I wanted to explore more items in the menu. I think the first thing I noticed when I entered the restaurant was the plov, the duck on top of the bed of rice. I thought the rice was sort of a curry flavor. I thought it was fantastic,

But I wish I had more of it. I wish I had more. Torres: That’s like fine dining though. Ogunkoya: Yeah, it’s fine dining. Torres: Okay, so plov is a pretty typical Russian dish. They took sort of an inspiration on that and they made it like for me it was a Moroccan duck.

Phung: The duck was perfectly smoked, just came off the bone. And then eating it with the rice where it felt like a very Middle Eastern style with the crispy sliced almonds. I think there were raisins inside. Torres: Raisins, yeah. Phung: It was just a pairing I never thought of before. Torres: Yeah.

Sbrocco: Alright. Tell me about the smoked sturgeon. Who had the smoked sturgeon? Torres: This is my favorite dish. Phung: Oh, yeah. Okay. Tell me about it. Torres: Yeah. Phung: It’s so smooth. The smoked sturgeon really jumps out and you smear it on like they’re perfectly cooked petite rye bread.

And like, fine dining comes out. Special, unique comes out. Torres: It’s a Meyer lemon puree. Phung: Yes. Torres: That thing that’s like you can’t even see it’s on the dish, but there’s a few drops of it and it really makes the dish pop. Sbrocco: Did you like the sturgeon?

Ogunkoya: I liked the sturgeon, too. Torres: You just wanted more of it. Ogunkoya: I wanted more of it. [ Laughter ] I think everything that I had was fantastic. I just wanted more. But my brother also ordered the pork ribs as his entree.

And I loved those. And as much as I love the plov, I think I had a little bit of entree envy because it just fell off the bone completely tender. I think they were fantastic. Sbrocco: But your brothers. You could have reached over with a fork. Ogunkoya: We could have reached over.

Sbrocco: Come on. You could — You could take a little bit. Ogunkoya: Yeah. Torres: I had the Wagyu beef cheek that was slow braised. And it was on top of these extruded rye noodles. And then you lumped on top of that a slow-braised beef cheek. And if you haven’t had that dish,

I would really recommend it, because I feel like I did not know that I could have rye in so many different presentations. Sbrocco: Did you have drinks to go along? Ogunkoya: Yes I did. I had the Meyer Lemon Spritz. So Prosecco, very smooth and clean. So it was a nice palate cleanser

Compared to the rest of the meal. Torres: So they do their own vodka-distilling and they infuse their vodkas with traditionally very Russian ingredients. I had a horseradish dirty martini, and I mean, wow. First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever had a dirty martini with horseradish, the spiciness.

You had a dill pickle that was draped over the top. It was served super chilled and it was clean. Phung: I even did like the mineral waters there too. So I picked one on the menu. It was salty and it was minerally and it was like nothing I’ve ever had before.

Sbrocco: Any other dishes to talk about before we get to dessert? Ogunkoya: I’m ready for dessert. Torres: Yeah. Sbrocco: Okay. Bring it on. Phung: Anytime you can get a hot, fresh donut, I order it, and I’m glad I did, because, you know, the crispy sweetness on the outside.

But it was so hot on the inside. Torres: The white rye donut for me was kind of revolutionary with the salted caramel dip, but they also allow you to add a selection of caviar. Phung: To the donut? Torres: If you really want to explore the savory, sweet.

Ogunkoya: I don’t remember that. I would have tried that. Sbrocco: And this is not an inexpensive spot, is it? Phung: No. No it wasn’t. Sbrocco: No. Phung: The price reflects fine dining, but I think to me it was well worth it. I kept thinking after we finished, like, who recommended this place?

I really want to meet this person. Torres: Here I am. Phung: Because when you’re going out to eat on like a special occasion, I’ve never thought, “Let me go try Russian food.” Torres: Right. Phung: Again. Simple elements. I left feeling like this is a very special place.

Sbrocco: So is he an honorary Gastronaut now? Torres: He is. You guys both. Both Daniel and Yemi. Sbrocco: Alright. Okay. Torres: We’re — Leslie, you’re also a Gastronaut. Ogunkoya: I like the Gastronaut idea. I like the name. Sbrocco: I like it. Alright. If you would like to try Birch & Rye.

It’s located on Castro Street in San Francisco. And the average tab per person without drinks is around $70. When Yemi and his wife moved to California, all the restaurants they chose were ones they’d seen on “Check, Please!” Thank you. [ Laughter ] Well, Yemi’s come full circle, ready to share the love

For a date-night destination of his own, bringing southern-style hospitality and classic comfort foods to the heart of downtown Petaluma. It’s Easy Rider. ♪♪ Sullivan: Our restaurant is named Easy Rider and it comes from the original term. Easy rider just kind of meant a laid-back American cruising the countryside,

Taking in the sights, eating food across the country. Come prepared to make friends because we’re going to try to make friends with you. Man: I got that. Norton: Easy Rider restaurant to me is family and friends and southern hospitality at its finest. Pork chops going with burger medium.

And I get to cook with my best friend every day, so. [ Laughter ] Rogers: I trained in foothills of Virginia and cooked in a lot of restaurants in Charleston and brought the sensibilities I learned to Kentucky Street. Important to get the juices of the collard greens in there.

I’m a Sonoma County boy, so for me, it’s been really fun to be able to showcase local farms and it can be As southern as we can while touching on the California coastal cuisine that we do. ♪♪ Our shrimp and grits is Anson Mills white grits, big grits.

And we cook those up really nice. That’s straight up. Norton: Yeah, that’s a dish all on its own. I mean, it hits your table and it screams the South. Rogers: Our rendition of fried chicken is a classic recipe from New Orleans that starts with the bird. And Petaluma has the best chickens,

I think in the West Coast and maybe the country. Norton: For me, picking up a thigh, dunking it in the sauce and taking that big first bite, you get a little punch of hot sauce in the back of it. For me, that’s the perfect bite. Rogers: I agree. I’m right there with him.

[ Indistinct chatter ] Sullivan: Our beverage program is super fresh, very simple, very restrained. Make it unique, but keep it kind of rooted in tradition. [ Indistinct chatter ] We see a lot of happy-hour patrons coming by to say hi to their favorite bartender and get a quick drink. I like hearing laughter.

I like watching friends reconnect. I love that we have a space to do that. Norton: Make sure that you come hungry. Man #2: Wow. Norton: You will not leave hungry. Rogers: That’s kind of how southern hospitality is meant to be, so. Norton: Yeah. Get you some biscuits! [ Chuckles ] Rogers: Yeah.

[ Indistinct chatter ] Sbrocco: Now, Yemi, This is a fairly new restaurant to Petaluma. I am a Petaluma resident, but it’s quickly gaining a following, isn’t it? Ogunkoya: I’m very into being comfortable when I go to a restaurant. And it’s a place where you can take a date.

And a date in this instance is my wife. [ Laughter ] Yeah. So I was drawn to the comfort. The ambiance is very sleek and cool and they have very large portions. There are even some occasions where I can take my children, just a lot of flexibility.

Sbrocco: And what do you start with? Ogunkoya: I always start with the hushpuppies. They’re cornbread with bacon and cheese. They come with a strawberry jalapeno dip. They’re very savory. They’re very filling. I don’t need that dip. I can have them by themselves. Sbrocco: Right. Did you have the Hushpuppies?

Phung: I did, it’s the first time I’ve had that savory bacon cheesy hushpuppy with the sweetness together. Actually, all my kids, they were just grabbing, grabbing, grabbing. We loved it. Torres: Yeah, I’m a big sauce person, so I feel like the strawberry jalapeno element was a highlight for me.

The hushpuppies were really well made and this was a really nice way to start the evening. It’s approachable. Sbrocco: So after the hushpuppies, what did you have, Shivani? Torres: The fried green tomatoes, I have to say. Okay. I have to say that fried green tomatoes, they’re a hot take.

Because I feel like this restaurant, the crisp that they achieved on all the things that were fried and crisp. Amazing. But the fried green tomatoes were moist, steamy, and the crisp was so crisp and the aioli was creamy and it was a little bit of spice. And, Yemi, you’re talking about wanting more.

And I know that the portions here are generous portions, but I wanted more. Ogunkoya: You did? Torres: I wanted more. Ogunkoya: Wow. Sbrocco: Do you get the fried green tomatoes? Ogunkoya: I didn’t get the fried green tomatoes, but I felt that with this place, they gave me what I wanted.

Sbrocco: Yeah, there was some food. Torres: You were content. Ogunkoya: I was content. Sbrocco: Okay. Ogunkoya: There was enough. Phung: Yeah, I had the pork belly with the biscuit, which was an incredible combination. Southern biscuit top and bottom, a smoked pork belly slapped in the middle. And that itself was delicious.

But for me, the extra surprise was actually the pickles inside. Torres: The pickles. Phung: The Trinity pickles. Torres: Pickles. Phung: Which I don’t know, it was like celery and a few other things, but it was spicy, it was sour, it was sweet. So I stuffed those pickles in the sandwich and eat them.

They were just so delicious. We also had the steak tartare, and I highly recommend it. The way it came out. Man: Voilà! Phung: Perfectly raw, delicious, tender beef with the raw egg yolk on top. I mixed it together and then I think it was country bread, perfectly grilled.

So it was warm, slightly crispy on the outside, and then you put on the steak tartare on the top. You take bites. It was incredible. Ogunkoya: I’ve had the crispy Brussels sprouts. They’re drenched in vinegar, but I think it’s well-balanced with the nuts that also come with the dish. They were just fantastic.

Torres: I had the salad. I think it was like a little gem salad with peaches. And I think what I appreciated about this restaurant is that they’re using ingredients that are seasonal, that are local. Sbrocco: And it’s that southern comfort food, but with a Sonoma County twist.

Torres: I think southern cuisine can get a bad rap because it can be really heavy, but when you kind of break that up with something that’s more fresh, I think it really primes you for their amazing entrees. Sbrocco: Okay, entrees, you open the door. Entrees. [ Laughter ]

Ogunkoya: So I had the fried chicken dinner, and it comes with collard greens and bacon over everything. [ Laughter ] Bacon gravy, macaroni and cheese sprinkled with bacon. And I went with my kids and I gave them the side of mac and cheese. And they finished it.

So I had to order two extra sides of mac and cheese. I think I had 3 or 4 pieces of chicken. I just — Sbrocco: You have a hearty appetite. Ogunkoya: Hearty appetite! Sbrocco: That’s right. Okay. Fried chicken. Torres: I think this fried chicken might be the best fried chicken

I’ve had in an extremely long time, because it’s moist. But the crisp was incredible. The flavoring was so good. Everybody needs to be taking notes. This fried chicken, they’ve got it. Phung: To get good fried chicken, it’s really hard. Ogunkoya: Yeah. Phung: I got to say.

This was the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. Sbrocco: Ah, there we go. Thank you. Ogunkoya: That’s high praise. Torres: It is high praise. Ogunkoya: High praise, okay. I’m just a big fan for these citrusy drinks that make you feel like you’re outside and you’re on vacation.

Torres: Right. Ogunkoya: I had the PYT. Which is a vodka drink with strawberry and lemon liqueur. Torres: The espresso martini before dessert is the move because, you know, you’ve been eating a lot of southern food, so you’re potentially approaching food coma status. It’s just a really nice play on coffee flavors

And chocolate flavors. It hit just right. Sbrocco: So desserts. Phung: Back to donuts. [ Laughter ] Ogunkoya: Yes, back to hot donuts. Phung: We all shared the hot donuts. It comes out super crispy, sweet. And then the different dips. Ogunkoya: Yes. Phung: We should have ordered 2 or 3 more

Because we all just dove in. We had the dips. There was nothing left. Torres: I feel like this restaurant could be like straight out of Charleston, and it’s really delightful to see people bringing these flavors and elevating them. I look forward to my next weekend in Petaluma. Yemi, good selection.

Ogunkoya: You guys are very welcome. [ Laughter ] Sbrocco: Alright. If you would like to try Easy Rider, it’s located on Kentucky Street in Petaluma, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $40. Woman: That’s pretty. Sbrocco: From mochi bites and milk buns to a musubi croissant mashup,

The pastries at Daniel’s go-to bakery are inspired by a wide variety of Asian cuisines. Whenever he’s craving their crispy creations, he heads to Oakland’s Grand Lake neighborhood, home to Bake Sum. ♪♪ Tang: Bake Sum was actually named as a play on dim sum. In Cantonese, sum actually means “heart,”

And dim sum means “little touches of the heart.” We bake a lot of different Asian flavors from a lot of different locales. This is the base for our Matchamisu. It’s a matcha cake made with mascarpone. What we really wanted to do was create a place that was safe for the LGBTQ community,

For Asian women, for folks to come and bake together that you don’t normally see in these types of spaces. This is a croissant dough. The base of all of our croissant recipes and kind of where it starts out. There’s 27 layers of butter in every single croissant.

We’re checking to see how much gluten development has happened. We’re just looking for a nice, clear, even window pane. ♪♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Got it. ♪♪ When people come in to Bake Sum, they find a selection of both savory and sweet pastries.

I have been told that sometimes our flavors really, like, punch you in the face. Woman: Mm-hmm. Tang: We don’t do subtlety that well around here. We have these okonomiyaki danishes which are covered with Kewpie mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce, bonito flakes, and cabbage, and Mornay with mushrooms too.

That makes all the elements of one of our most popular and long-standing pastries. The milk buns are an extreme labor of love to put together the beautiful swirl swirl concha top, as well as the milk bun as well as the filling. We’ve done quite a few different flavors and we’re still trying to,

You know, hit all the colors of the rainbow. Man: Cheers. Tang: Cheers. [ Crunches ] Sbrocco: Alright. How did you discover Bake Sum? Phung: So this was one of those hot places that you kind of discover on food blogs and other places. Tang: What you need?

Phung: And when I finally got in, I thought, there’s no way this place could be as good as the hype was, but it’s incredible. It’s my favorite bakery. So one of my favorite things to get is the Croissubi which is you can think of Spam Musubi, like Spam, rice, seaweed.

One of my favorite things to eat in Hawaii. And they somehow mash that up with a croissant. So it’s really like thick and crunchy on the outside with the buttery on the inside. And then you have the salty Spam in the middle with the seaweed, and then the furikake seasoning on top.

So you eat that all together. You’re thinking, oh, this is like a traditional ham and cheese croissant, but it tastes like Hawaii, tastes like France. It was incredible. Every time I get it, I look down. It’s just this mess around me of deliciousness. Sbrocco: Did you have that one?

Torres: I did not have that one. But the one that stood out for me was this Danish which had bonito flakes, mushroom, Kewpie mayonnaise, extremely flavory Danish. And I did have the baked good carnage situation… [ Laughter ] …where I ate it, and then all of the flakes

Were everywhere and I was like, wow. Sbrocco: And you’re talking about savory dishes here. So they have savory as well as sweet dishes. Did you have savory or sweet? Ogunkoya: I had them all. [ Laughter ] I had them all. But the thing that stood out for me was the chocolate banana croissants.

Torres: Mmm. Sbrocco: Ah, okay. Ogunkoya: And I think that filling just reminded me of the best banana puddings I’ve had. I’m from New York. I’ve had Magnolia Bakery banana pudding. That banana pudding was fantastic. Phung: When that first came out, I thought, like, I like banana, I like chocolate, I like croissant.

I don’t know if I’m going to like it all together, but then you bite into the outside. It’s like your traditional crispy croissant, and then you get into the banana mash pudding. Ogunkoya: That was what I — Phung: Whoa. Like, what is this?

And then you mix in the chocolate cream on the inside and you get those all together. It’s very special. Ogunkoya: My wife really, really liked the cheesy pull-apart. Phung: It’s my favorite. Torres: Yeah. Phung: It’s seven pieces of super crunchy, crispy croissant dough. Crispy on the outside, buttery rich on the inside,

Big chunks of roasted garlic with cheese sprinkled throughout. It’s been one of those things that’s been on the menu since my first time going, and I just love it. And then in addition to my usual go-tos, always throw in a few mochi bites. The brown butter one is my favorite,

With the richness of the brown butter and the chewiness of a mochi that comes together again with the contrast of the crispy. And I just take bite after bite. And that’s actually how I start my pink box. [ Laughter ] Torres: Okay, so the milk bun was a puffed milk bun.

Really light dough. But for me, the only thing was that the way that they piped it, it was asymmetrical. So a lot of the filling happened in the last bites, but… Sbrocco: You mean like a Twinkie, when you get the part in the Twinkie —

Torres: You get the part that’s like the right part. But the delight of just having flavors and baked goods that I would have never expected. It’s — It’s really fun. It’s really fun. Phung: It’s not like a $1 donut type of place. I have no trouble going there more often

Than I probably should. It’s what makes me happy when I go before or after bike rides on a weekday. I go in, I order a bunch of stuff. I walk out with my beautiful pink box, I come home to my family and this is how we start the day together.

Ogunkoya: That’s actually what I did the day that I went there. I got that pink box. I came back and I had the dishes with my wife and my two kids. Sbrocco: There you go. Ogunkoya: It was fantastic. Sbrocco: Pink boxes make people happy. They just do.

If you would like to try, Bake Sum, it’s located on Grand Avenue in Oakland, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $20. Woman #2: Thank you so much. Sbrocco: And now reporter Cecilia Phillips is tempting our taste buds in San Jose’s Little Saigon. ♪♪ Phillips: We’re here at Vietnam Town.

How did this community come to be. Vo: In San Jose, The Vietnamese first arrived here, I would say 1970-ish, ’80s, and then they officially called it the Little Saigon in 2007. We’re the largest Vietnamese population in the US. So if you’re looking for something like snacks

And dessert, we have plenty of boba places. And then you got traditional Vietnamese noodle houses. Most of them are authentic. But I also have seen young entrepreneurs come in with different ideas. Phillips: Can we go check it out together? Vo: Let’s do it. ♪♪ The consumption of coffee is enormous in Vietnam.

You’ve got coffee shop everywhere. So this egg coffee, they are Tram’s most popular coffee. It’s originated in Hanoi in northern Vietnam. It’s Vietnamese coffee on the bottom. And then they added eggnog, which is very sweet, condensed. Dinh: So this one is the egg coffee, milk, coffee, egg cream, and coffee jelly.

Phillips: So mix the coffee and the cream okay. There’s more coffee in the jelly, right? Dinh: Mm-hmm. Phillips: Alright. I’m going to be wired. [ Chuckles ] Nguyen: The name of the shop is Vua Khô Bo. English name is King of Beef Jerky. Yeah. We have a lot of beef jerky.

Besides beef jerky, we have fruit, candy, dried fruit, and some pickled fruit. Phillips: Which beef jerky is your favorite beef jerky? Nguyen: My favorite is curry beef jerky. Phillips: Let’s try some. Nguyen: Yeah. Phillips: Mmm! Nguyen: Sweet and smell good. [ Laughter ] Phillips: I’ve never had chè before. What is chè?

Tong: It’s like a Vietnamese style dessert. This is the cool dessert. And this is the hot one. Phillips: Wow, it’s so green. Tong: Inside we have red crunchy jelly, pandan jelly, and we have mung bean, taro, red bean, and white bean. Phillips: And what’s on top. Tong: It’s the coconut milk.

Phillips: It’s good. It’s not sweet. It’s warm. What do you make here? Lam: We make everything. [ Laughter ] Phillips: So when I first walked in here, I saw a lot of green. Lam: Yeah. The pandan leaf. Phillips: So you take the pandan leaves and put it with water,

And then you put it in the cake? Lam: Yeah. In Vietnam, we like this flavor. Phillips: You’re the original to make the pandan waffle in the USA. Lam: Yeah, almost 35 years. Phillips: And what’s this one? Lam: This is a honeycomb cake. Phillips: Thank you. [ Laughter ]

It’s so good. It’s chewy, but not too sweet. Lam: Yeah. Vo: I’m really proud that we have the first in the world, Vietnam town. So the community is here. An opportunity for them to celebrate culture. [ Laughter ] Sbrocco: I want to thank my terrific guests on this week’s show —

Daniel Phung, lover of the Asian-French fusion treats at Bake Sum in Oakland, Yemi Ogunkoya, who has a hankering for the hushpuppies at Easy Rider in Petaluma, and Shivani Torres, who tempted us with the Russian-inspired tasting menu at Birch & Rye in San Francisco. Join us next time when three more guests

Will recommend their favorite spots right here on “Check, Please! Bay Area.” I’m Leslie Sbrocco and I’ll see you then. Cheers and cheers to you all. Did you have fun? Torres: Of course. Sbrocco: Yes. Whoo! ♪♪ Phillips: What do you feel like pandan tastes like. Woman: Oh, gosh, that’s hard to describe.

Woman #2: Vanilla, coconut. Man: It’s like — Woman: Kind of milky. Man: Like creamy, milky. Woman: Milky. Man #2: A little bit sweet. But it, like, it melts in my mouth. Man: It’s like leafy. Woman: Yeah. Phillips: Kind of herbal like. Man: Creamy, leafy and creamy.

Woman #2: I feel like you have to taste it. It’s indescribable. Woman: Definitely more vegetable than fruit. Man: It tastes green. [ Phillips chuckles ]