The kitchen

Hey there, thank you for joining us. The menu we've made for you this evening was meant for gathering, eating & drinking together.
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Some items carry with them deep traditions & techniques & some are riffs on old classics & some are their own mix of ideas entirely. To maximize your experience with us we encourage you to order a little bit of anything & everything your heart desires, with a bottle of wine & share the spread amongst yourselves.

Yes, we source the best produce, sustainable seafood & ethically raised animal products we can get our hands on.

Yes, we buy & support as many local purveyors as we possibly can.

Yes, our menu evolves to suit our seasons & current state of mind. Please, have yourselves the best of times. Cheers!

Here is a convenient PDF version you can download.

Click here to view our lunch menu

Snack +
Salads +
Vegetables

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CHef notes

This dish is commonly considered a “drinking snack.” Kho is the Vietnamese word for “simmer.” Traditionally, this is enjoyed by simmering pork fat, krill, caramel sauce, garlic, and shallots in a clay pot and dipping a variety of steamed vegetables into it. We skip the pork fat in our version in favor of neutral grape seed oil. Other than that, the recipe stays true to its Vietnamese roots.

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CHef notes

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CHef notes

A Vietnamese staple. We make the filling with meat shop ground pork, yellow onions, wood ear mushrooms, and mung bean noodles. We roll them in eggroll wrappers and fry them crispy to order. They’re meant to be eaten by wrapping them in fresh lettuce and herbs and dipping them into our house made nuoc chom (seasoned fish sauce).

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CHef notes

Fresh, a little spicy, crunchy, savory and sweet. A perfect dish for sunny, desert living and for balancing other fatty dishes like our claypots.

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CHef notes

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CHef notes

We braise our jackfruit in tons of garlic, lemongrass, ginger, some brown sugar and a bit of Maggi seasoning sauce. It’s then finished in a wok with onions, jalapeños and a spicy and sticky sauce made of hoisin and sambal. Definitely for heat freaks. Goes well with steamed rice and white wine or a crispy beer to cool the heat.

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CHef notes

A simple nod to a Chinese classic. We use McClendon’s broccolini and pan fry them on high heat in carbon steel pans. Finished with fresh garlic and Shaoxing wine, which has a lightly acidic and caramel flavor profile. Great for accompanying a savory meal.

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CHef notes

Wok-sautéed with garlic and sesame seeds and finished with Chinkiang vinegar, which presents with a deep black color and offers a sweet and lightly fruity balsamic-type quality to it. Finally, just before serving, we top it with shaved Bonito and a touch of high quality sesame oil, giving it an umami rich and smoky flavor.

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CHef notes

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CHef notes

Our King Oyster mushrooms are grown locally just a few miles from us by our good friend, Bob. We sear them and then deglaze them in a Sichuan-style sauce made from our house-made chili paste, black bean sauce, vinegar, a touch of sugar, and chili oil. It has tons of deep flavor and is so meaty that we serve them with a steak knife. Consider it the savory part of a main meal. Don’t skip the rice!

seafood

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CHef notes

Airy, funky, sweet, rich and a perfect starter to the evening.

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CHef notes

This is a riff on a famous Hanoi dish called Cha Ca La Vong. In our take, we fry up pieces of white fish from Nelson’s and build a pan sauce using shrimp paste, turmeric, garlic, ginger, yogurt, butter, lime, and fish sauce. To finish, we take the pan sauce, fold in a whole lot of scallions and dill, and top the crispy fish with it. The flavor is wild…a little murky, acidic, earthy and deeply herbaceous. Consider it a main part of a meal. Don’t skip the rice!

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CHef notes

In Saigon there is a street called “seafood street” in Vietnamese. Wayne and I spent hours there one evening eating dinner 2 times at the same spot in the same night. These mussels are my attempt to recreate the flavors I ate that night. We simmer PEI (Prince Edward Island) Mussels from Nelsons in a broth made of lemongrass, garlic, shallots, thai chili’s, fish sauce and coconut milk. Eat these with some bread or rice.

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CHef notes

A riff on a Vietnamese street food staple. Normally a humble crepe filled with thin slices of pork belly and steamed shrimp, ours is stuffed with a generous pile of fresh crab, spiked with KewPie Mayo and Old Bay. Eat by tearing off pieces and wrapping them in lettuce and herbs, so they can be dipped in our house-made nuoc chom. It could be considered an appetizer or part of a main meal.

specialties

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CHef notes

Classic technique and quality ingredients

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CHef notes

Our fried rice borrows influence from Chinese and Thai techniques. We don’t season our rice with soy sauce, instead we use Nuoc Chom or Maggie depending on if it’s vegetarian or not (Thai influence). We don’t use peas and carrots as many of our western counterparts use and instead rely on fermented mustard greens as the vegetal component to the rice. This adds a deep layer of flavor and funkiness and is very common in Sichuan styles of fried rice (Chinese influence).

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CHef notes

A staple in Vietnamese home cooking, where it is more formally known as Thit Kho. Humble and delicious. Savory, rich, fatty and all around soulful. We offer no deviation from the classic preparation. Meant to stick to your ribs a bit. Consider it a main part of a meal. Great with a crispy wine or a papaya salad to balance the richness. Don’t skip the rice!

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CHef notes

"Traditionally prepared with our friend, Dave’s, chicken and top quality ingredients. The magic to our Chicken Pho broth is a mixture of time, simplicity, technique and intention. We start by roasting off a bunch of Two Wash Ranch chicken bones, onions, garlic and ginger. Once they’re well browned we add a bunch of star anise and some cinnamon, submerge it all in cold water, and just before we turn the lights out for the night we place it in our fancy shmancy Rationale Combi oven. It’s brought to a rapid boil then held perfectly at 170 degrees until we arrive 12 hours later to turn the lights back on. Then, as the sun is coming up we’re straining all that delicious aromatic chicken stock and fortifying it with a generous amount of fish sauce and a touch of sugar, letting it reduce a bit further on the stove. That’s it. There are no artificial flavorings or bullion packets used. Just simple, quality ingredients, cooked simply and thoughtfully. It’s served the traditional way with a side of fresh Thai Basil, bean sprouts, lime and jalapeno. "

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CHef notes

The same recipe that Chef Michael used at Chicken and Donuts. This is for people that like things funky, sticky, savory and absolutely meant for chugging wine with.

Dessert

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wine

Our wine list is composed entirely of natural wine. They're organic, biodynamic & have minimal intervention in the winery, which makes for deliciously fresh, fun & crushable wines that pair really well with our food.

The "Belly Experience," as we've designed it, is to split a bottle of wine, & a few plates & party. Chug chug!

by the glass

red - rose - white - prosecco

$10

rotating by the glass

always something good!

$15

bottle list

white

white bubs

red

Rosé

Rosé bubs

orange

orange bubs

Drinks

Belly cocktails are free & fun. Light-hearted, juicy, herbaceous & delicious. The freedom of ingredients & inspiration from the flavors of the East, make concocting these bright & refreshing drinks a journey unto itself. We use fresh juice, tangy drinking vinegars, fresh herbs & unique spirits to create a wide variety & something for everyone. Enjoy!

Cocktails

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bartender notes

This is a shared drink! You think you & your friends could take this baby down?

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bartender notes

A sweet & spicy margarita, with the woodsiness of reposado tequila, the heat from Thai chilis & jalepeño, then we get cooled back down with pineapple & cucumber. It’s frothy & delicious with some pretty serious heat. Balanced with fresh lime juice & organic cane sugar, it’s finished with a tamarindo & salted rim. Named after the Roman/Greek serpent, Hydra, who upon beheading, would grow back two heads to essentially live, “forever.”

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bartender notes

We imagined ourselves jumping off a cliff in the Bahamas, straight into the voracious ocean, being slapped in the face with all kinds of tropical flavors. Belly Flop baybaaay

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bartender notes

This is a kind of creamy, tangy & smoky margarita/piña colada. Split base with mezcal & blanco tequila, we mix with a pineapple, cinnamon & coconut vinegar shrub, our favorite coconut cream, & tiki bitters. Garnished with a piece of smoking cinnamon for ambiance & a bit of a multi-sensory experience.

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bartender notes

This drink came together one day during a conversation about a green apple margarita & a classic Spanish Gin & Tonic. We decided to mash the two up! We steep rosemary in apple cider vinegar, to extract the oils & the deliciousness of the herb, then mix with fresh apple juice & organic cane sugar. This shrub is incredible on its own; it’s hearty & warms the soul. Why not add some gin & some lime juice?? Topped with soda water, this is a super refreshing cocktail.

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bartender notes

A split base of overproof El Salvadorean rum & Tennessee rye whiskey, our infamous lemongrass & makrut lime leaf syrup, angostura & tiki bitters, garnished with fresh lemon peel & lime leaf. This is a really special old fashioned with a bit more personality than its predecessor.

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bartender notes

This was one of our original cocktails. Lots of people ask about the little internet references. Originally, we were going to infuse Tito’s vodka with Thai Basil, “Thai Basil Tito’s” – TBT – we ended up using a different vodka, but decided to keep the name. Obviously, TBT in internet lingo inspires some other kinds of jokes. In this wildly refreshing cocktail, we have a Thai basil-infused vodka with ginger liqueur, hibiscus, lemon juice, & grapefruit. Summertime refresher at its best.

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bartender notes

What's to say? We live in the desert & there is nothing more refreshing than a fruit & effervescent sangria

Kitchen

Wine

drinks

The kitchen

Snack + Salads + Vegetables

MAM KHO QUET

Deep, aromatic, funky & perfectly sweet dipping sauce with a side of chilled steamed vegetables. Contains shrimp.

vegan

gf

rice recommended

11

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CHef notes

Chow Saung Choy

wok fried salad of romaine hearts, fried garlic & ginger, tossed in a house made, umami rich oyster & sesame sauce. Topped with sesame seeds, fried shallots & Szechuan powder

vegan

gf

rice recommended

11

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CHef notes

CRISPY SPRING ROLLS

Local pork, woodear mushrooms, mung bean noodles. 2 rolls with fresh lettuce for wrapping & nuoc cham for dipping

vegan

gf

rice recommended

12

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CHef notes

GREEN PAPAYA SALAD

+add soft shell crab

Pickled carrots & daikon, mint, cilantro, baby tomatoes, peanuts & fried shallots. With nuoc cham or vegan dressing. (vegan option) | Add crispy soft shell crab $10.

vegan

gf

rice recommended

12

22

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CHef notes

CHICKEN THIGH SKEWERS

CHICKEN THIGHS MARINATED IN CRYING TIGER SAUCE & TOPPED WITH SESAME SEEDS

vegan

gf

rice recommended

12

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CHef notes

FIERY BRAISED JACKFRUIT

With hoisin, sambal, cilantro, onions & jalepeño.

vegan

gf

rice recommended

14

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CHef notes

SAUTEED BROCCOLINI

With garlic & shaoxing wine

vegan

gf

rice recommended

14

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CHef notes

WOK FRIED GREEN BEANS WITH BONITO

vegan option

Soy sauce, black vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, garlic. Available vegan upon request (no bonito).

vegan

gf

rice recommended

14

12

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CHef notes

HANGAR STEAK SKEWERS

HANGER STEAK MARINATED IN CRYING TIGER SAUCE & TOPPED WITH SESAME SEEDS

vegan

gf

rice recommended

15

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Snack +
Salads +
Vegetables