My friend, Jimmy Le, invited several of the guys for a chill night of steaming hot bowl of his homemade Vietnamese phô that's been cooking on his stove for two days. Phô (fuh), like no other soup, is the most satisfying soup for me. The aroma of star anise, clove and ginger seduces me into hypnotic submission. Jimmy uses ox tails as the base for his stock; simmering the ox tails until its meat softens and releases its flavors inside the pot of perfection.
I was immediately transported to the bustling street food scene in Ho Chi Minh city the moment I stepped into Jimmy's
house. Friends Todd Ernst, Jason Essex and Scott Erickson made up our informal dinner of five in the table in Jimmy's kitchen. He served us each a bowl of steaming hot pho filled to the rim with ox tails, sliced beef, meatballs, tendons, spring onions, sprouts, basil, cilantro, rice noodles and a host of accompaniments including sriracha, lime and hoisin.
We bowed our heads toward the bowl and with chopsticks and Asian soup spoon, we slurped, scooped and bit into each piece of protein as if it was our last meal. At one point, we had to chuckle as George Michael's Father Figure song played on the radio. But no one cared. Tonight was all about the pho and not even Celine Dion could have interfered with our focus in enjoying this amazing soup.
Our conversations around the table ranged from discussing memorable facebook posts to my youngest daughter's 9,000 text messages in one month. From parties we have hosted at the JW to Mega 80's at the Intersection. From home cooked meals to exotic restaurants in Asia.
Between the five of us, there isn't a night when at least one of us is out on the town. However, on this cold winter evening, there were no people to meet, no crowds to worry about and no out-of-town guests to entertain. Just five guys chilling with a bowl of Jimmy's pho. It was perfect.
How about playing some Careless Whisper, Jimmy?
I was immediately transported to the bustling street food scene in Ho Chi Minh city the moment I stepped into Jimmy's
house. Friends Todd Ernst, Jason Essex and Scott Erickson made up our informal dinner of five in the table in Jimmy's kitchen. He served us each a bowl of steaming hot pho filled to the rim with ox tails, sliced beef, meatballs, tendons, spring onions, sprouts, basil, cilantro, rice noodles and a host of accompaniments including sriracha, lime and hoisin.
We bowed our heads toward the bowl and with chopsticks and Asian soup spoon, we slurped, scooped and bit into each piece of protein as if it was our last meal. At one point, we had to chuckle as George Michael's Father Figure song played on the radio. But no one cared. Tonight was all about the pho and not even Celine Dion could have interfered with our focus in enjoying this amazing soup.
Our conversations around the table ranged from discussing memorable facebook posts to my youngest daughter's 9,000 text messages in one month. From parties we have hosted at the JW to Mega 80's at the Intersection. From home cooked meals to exotic restaurants in Asia.
Between the five of us, there isn't a night when at least one of us is out on the town. However, on this cold winter evening, there were no people to meet, no crowds to worry about and no out-of-town guests to entertain. Just five guys chilling with a bowl of Jimmy's pho. It was perfect.
How about playing some Careless Whisper, Jimmy?
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