The French colonial period in Vietnam left its culinary mark on the Asian country.
Chris Lee and his brother Dennis, from an immigrant Vietnamese family, make the most of that food heritage. The names of their restaurants honor their grandfather, who cooked for them.
They share the French bakery Chez Grand-Pere in Mountlake Terrace. Along with delicious pastries for the bakery, the brothers also bake the demi-baguettes used for banh mi sandwiches sold at Yeh Yeh’s (grandpa’s) in Lynnwood. Chris owns the sandwich place.
The bakery, not quite two years old, was born of the need for those fresh baguettes. But according to the bakery’s website, the Lee brothers are “passionate perfectionists of French baking,” so croissants also are baked fresh each morning as well.
The Lee family emigrated from Vietnam in 1980.
On Yeh Yeh’s website: “We were reminded of the memories of our own grandpa and the great food he made us when we were children. We always looked forward to going to our grandpa’s house for wonderful food. We hope that we can share our experiences with you and have you look forward to coming back to enjoy the same great food from our family’s recipes.”
So that is the intent.
At both places, the Lee family succeeds.
On a recent morning I met my daughter Emilie and granddaughter Paige at Chez Grand-Pere for breakfast. The bakery is located on the south side of town in a building that used to house a printing business.
Emilie and I have been to France, so we are picky about French pastries. Got to say, these were the best we have eaten in the Puget Sound area, hands down.
Here’s what we tried:
A small, round creamy quiche was $2.75. Pate chaud (or banh pate so) — a savory, warm puff pastry filled with pork with Continental/Asian flavors that are almost sweet — was $4. Together they made for a substantial breakfast.
My 2-year-old grandkid liked her bite of the tasse de creme (a caramel custard pastry) as well as the fresh blueberry Danish (both $3.25) but she started grinning and swinging her legs while she ate a piece of the pain au chocolat (a chocolate croissant for $3.50). So buttery, so creamy, such good chocolate.
The most popular item on the menu is the huge almond croissant ($3.85), and there is a reason for that. It is amazing, plain and simple. The real taste test, however, came with the plain croissant ($3), which, again, we determined was the best around.
Cafe au lait, drip coffee and other drinks are available, and customers are free to sit, read, go online, sip and savor.
We were given a nice pastry box in which to take home the leftovers. We could have eaten all of it, but we had more dining to do.
Near Edmonds Community College is Lynnwood’s Gold Park and across the street from the park is Yeh Yeh’s.
It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside it smells great. It’s packed with lunch customers and one can tell that the kitchen is rockin’.
We ordered a grilled pork banh mi sandwich for $4.15, a bowl of Hu Tieu Mi My Tho, about $7, and a spring roll with chicken for $3.50. The roll came with a nice sweet and (slightly) sour peanut sauce.
Vietnamese coffee and bubble tea are available, along with other beverages.
The sandwich starts with one of those fresh demi-baguettes from the bakery. This bread is perfectly crispy on the outside and super soft on the inside.
The sandwich was loaded with tasty marinated grilled pork, fresh julienned and quick-pickled vegetables, cucumbers, onions, cilantro and jalapeno slices. (Still good without the pepper, in case you don’t want super spicy.) The slight sweet and sour flavor of the veggies offers a refreshing balance to the meat and bread. Banh mi are made and toasted to order. Other sandwich fillings include brisket, chicken, beef, salmon, tofu, ham, pastrami and even Philly cheese steak, and the price doesn’t go above $6.25.
The vermicelli salad looked tasty and generous, also for $6.25.
Pho ($6.25) is available daily, but the family’s specialty pork soup, Hu Tieu Mi My Tho, is served only at the end of the week.
The recipe comes from the family’s native city, My Tho, in south Vietnam. Get both the hu tieu (rice noodle) and the mi (egg noodle). The stock is simmered for hours and then dried grilled squid, a special sauce and seasoned han phi (fried shallots) are added. Eat all the fresh vegetables and herbs that come with it.
Yum.
We think the Lee family’s grandpa would have been pleased.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
Chez Grand-Pere Bakery
24007 56th Ave. W., Mountlake Terrace; 425- 672-8818; http://grandperebakery.weebly.com
Hours: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Closed Mondays.
Yeh Yeh’s Vietnamese Sandwiches
19915 64th Ave. W., Suite 101, Lynnwood; 425- 776-7213; www.yehyehs.com.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays. Closed Sundays.
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