Koffeteria ushers in new phase in bakery’s life
A multicourse Cambodian New Year’s feast at Koffeteria, chef Vanarin Kuch’s EaDo bakery, was an auspicious occasion in more ways than one. Sure, it celebrated a brand-new turn around the sun, a gathering for family and friends to take stock and look ahead.
But the meal also heralded a new phase in the creative life of the establishment — one I’ve been hoping for ever since I became a fan.
Kuch is a master of savory as well as sweet, as I have learned while working my way through his unusual pastry repertoire. He’s a deft weaver of Houston foodways, pop-culture fads and flavors drawn from his family’s Cambodian roots.
I’ve long been eager to see more from him and to be able to enjoy Koffeteria’s sleek midcenturymodern space beyond its usual closing time in early afternoon, once the pastry case has been laid waste.
Well, my prayer has been answered. As of last week, Koffeteria stays open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays (8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends), offering a short printed menu of tacos, a salad and a trio of sandwiches. Add the mind-melting array of morning pastries, plus a range of inventive espresso and tea drinks, and you have the makings of a great new all-day cafe.
I’ve already written about my admiration for the Chinese-sausageand-egg taco that’s now a mainstay on the all-day menu. Now it’s joined by a new vegetarian version featuring pan-fried taro and salsa verde, a tropical twist on our local potato-and-egg favorite.
Make a space for Kuch’s new BLT with fried tomatillos on your
list of great Houston sandwiches. Housed on one of the bakery’s over-sized croissants, it’s a textural masterpiece — with all manner of crunchy to crisp to flaky shadings, from the pop of the cornmeal crust on the tomatillos to the snap of the crackly bacon. It’s tart and salty and sweet — from a layer of softly caramelized onions — with a lingering buttery finish from the croissant dough.
It’s so arresting I had but the briefest pang over not getting Kuch’s new spin on a French dip, the beef pho brisket melt inspired by Cuc Lam’s brilliant pho-rench dip banh mi when she was at Yelo. Kuch’s version uses aged Swiss and Thai chili oil, with a side of pho broth for dipping.
But I’m definitely on board for Koffeteria’s version of Caesar salad, in which that reliable warhorse gets a lively “Khmer” twist on Caesar dressing incorporating prahok (a supercharged Cambodian fish sauce), lime and a little boost of red Thai chile. Who needs anchovy when you’ve got prahok?
I loved everything about this salad, right down to the croissant croutons — except for the slightly browned edges on some of the pre-chopped lettuces, an easily fixed detail that may disappear once they’re doing the salad in volume.
Which I believe they will, once people catch on to what they’re doing here in this refreshingly cool, airy, vigorously ventilated space.
The place was full for both seatings of that Cambodian New Year’s dinner. Kuch’s mother, Sokha Bakken, and his aunt, Ky Vouch — a gardener and fisherwoman extraordinaire — were on hand in traditional formal finery to explain the various dishes. Homegrown ingredients from their kitchen gardens figured into the meal, which had home-pickled accents like fermented bean sprouts and mustard greens, plus a lively fish-sauce spiked version of papaya salad called bok lahong.
A deeply bronzed chicken wing was stuffed with minced pork, galangal root and vermicelli. Another starter, fish bahut, was a fried fish-paste fritter seasoned with makrut lime leaf; it reminded me of the tod mun pla cakes I ate in Thailand and still seek out on Thai menus.
Three main courses were stacked in a gleaming silvery tiffin container, and each was a revelation in its own way. A juicy, savory stew of beef held the surprise of frilly, gently gelatinous strips of tripe. Amok, a coconut fish curry, was steamed in banana leaf, making it like a trembly custard perfumed with lime leaf and lemongrass. It’s similar to Thai har mok but with more of a vibrant bounce and tingle.
Pork and egg kau was a stew of caramelized pork belly and boiled eggs flavored with star anise, reminiscent of similar dishes I’ve tasted in Chinese and Malaysian restaurants. The form extends across Southeast Asia, and it’s comfort food par excellence.
We finished up with desserts a world away in form from the laminated and yeasted pastries that are Koffeteria’s usual stock in trade. Tapioca pearls floated in a lavender gray soup bobbing with purply little Thai bananas, starchier and earthier than the grocery store variety. And a brothy coconut rice pudding came with cooling slips of young palm seed, a new texture for me.
As I chatted with the aunt who fishes in Galveston Bay and provides fresh herbs and fruits for the bakery, with the mother and the sister-in-law who garden, I realized this was the deep well from which Kuch draws his palate and inspiration. Like his freewheeling ideas, it will never run dry.
I departed feeling hopeful — for this chef, for his bakery, for his talented family, for this city. And for another new year.
Koffeteria, 1110 Hutchins, no phone; koffeteria.com