Crustacean

Helene An, matriarch and executive chef of the An family restaurants, is by title a Vietnamese princess, great-granddaughter of the vice king of Vietnam. When she and her family fled from Saigon penniless in 1975, they relocated to San Francisco, purchased a small deli, and introduced the city to their now-legendary recipe: An Family's Famous Roast Crab and Garlic Noodles. These two dishes spawned a Horatio Alger story and a family restaurant dynasty. With the Indochina-themed decor -- a curvaceous copper bar, balcony seating, a bamboo garden, a waterfall, and an 80-foot-long "stream" topped with glass and filled with exotic koi -- the Beverly Hills location is pure drama from the moment you walk in. What you won't see is the Secret Kitchen (literally, it's off-limits to even most of the staff), where the An family's signature dishes such as tiger prawns with garlic noodles, whole Maine lobster in tamarind sauce, and roast Dungeness crab are prepared.

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