taco version. yum.
tofu-rito version: yellow corn tortilla
sarnie version
Starry Kitchen (www.starrykitchen.com)
Step 1: Drive to this North Hollywood apartment building during the appointed hours.
Step 2: Enter code “#141” at the door and get buzzed up to the courtyard.
Step 3: Order food from a friendly husband-wife foodie team preparing Vietnamese and Asian-inspired Mexicali fare out of their kitchen.
Sounds strange, doesn’t it? I will have to admit, while taking the elevator up to the apartment with my two buddies, part of me thought that we would be the next victims of an international organ-harvesting crime ring. I hear livers are the current bodypart-du-jour. Dear criminals: my liver is saddled with tequila residue and will be of no use to you. Thanks.
Instead of being greeted by malevolent ninjas with surgical scalpels, we were instead greeted by Thi and Nguyen, a super-friendly couple who started this venture out of their apartment after realizing Thi’s penchant for visualizing yummy asian-inspired recipes in her mind should be put to good use. Well, consider this a good use.
Each day the couple serves a different dish. I heard other days they have served Taiwanese 3 cup chicken, honey panko-crusted fried tofu balls, chicken meatloaf and hamburger curry Vietnamese rolls. Today they were serving lemongrass chicken or tofu tacos, burritos and sandwiches. We tried one of each. The result was delicious - banh mi-themed vibrant flavor with a retention of wholesomeness. It will be interesting to see if they can retain the homemade aura when and if they decide to scale up their offerings by opening an establishment Downtown. With their inventive yet simple concepts, I have no doubt that they can pull it off.
Amazingly, none of Thi or Nguyen’s neighbors or landlord seem to mind them operating this venture in contravention to a variety of municipal codes. Nguyen explained that none of them wanted to lose access to their food. I don’t blame them. - H. Lee
Starry Kitchen, 11049 McCormick Street, Suite 205, North Hollywood, CA 91601. Buzz code #141. Hours: Sunday from 12-3 pm and Wednesday from 6-9 pm.
