First look: Khue's Kitchen is right at home in St. Paul

It's all hands on deck at Khue's Kitchen, the long-awaited restaurant from Eric Pham.

You might find the chef's parents, family members and even old friends pinch hitting on busy nights, which is pretty much every night since its early March opening.

Pham has had a steady following since his days running Khue's as a ghost kitchen, pop-ups and a residency at Bar Brava, where his saucy fried chicken sandwich achieved cult status. Now he's set up stakes in MidCity Kitchen in St. Paul, just seven months after a devastating fire destroyed the planned location for Khue's, the former Ngon Bistro.

Down but not out, Pham returned to pop-ups, with industry friends from Picnic in Linden Hills, Edwards Dessert Kitchen and Spoon and Stable, where Pham honed his fine-dining chops, opening their kitchens to help him cook and rebuild.

While the destination of Khue's Kitchen changed, the premise didn't: to honor the bold cuisine of his Vietnamese heritage as well as his mom, Khue Pham, whose family is behind the legendary Quang in Minneapolis.

That includes the still-viral chicken sandwich as well as a small but mighty menu that pushes the culinary boundaries of both the cuisine and of diners.

Location: 693 Raymond Av., St. Paul, khueskitchen.com.

Hours: Wed.-Sat. 4:30-9:30 p.m.

The food: Be sure your dining partners like to share; you'll want to sample everything on the menu, Pham's nod to traditional Vietnamese cooking but with a modern lens. He doesn't shy away from bold flavors or spice.

Starters include classic cream cheese wontons, chicken salad and crispy pork lettuce wraps ($12-$15). The latter was our favorite, slices of tender yet crispy pork, woven noodles, cucumbers and herbs cradled inside butter lettuce and served with a fish sauce vinaigrette. It only whetted our appetites for what was next.

There are a half-dozen entrees ($15-$37). The Spicy Chicken Sando has been making the rounds on social media since Pham served a version of it at his Bar Brava residency. Its popularity hasn't waned, with sandwich after sandwich coming out of the kitchen, accompanied by a wet wipe, a cute and necessary touch.

Also on the meaty side is the Bánh Mì Xíu Mai, a melt-in-your-mouth pork meatball swimming in a bright tomato sauce with chile oil, scallions and cilantro and accented with a toasted bánh mì. And the stellar grilled sirloin, a hefty cut bathed in a traditional Vietnamese marinade ("it's a secret," Pham says), that I'm still thinking about.

The Sticky Jicama Ribs left us confused, but in the best way. "This has to be meat," said one of my dining companions. It's not. Marinated tofu and fried jicama and a little Pham magic — "that's a secret, too," he said — are formed into ribs that expertly (and surprisingly) mimic the taste and texture of pork ribs. The sticky soy glaze keeps the meaty illusion going, making it a top-tier vegan dish.

Roast pork fried rice and five-spice tofu round out the mains, and dishes are clearly marked dairy-free, gluten-free or vegetarian/vegan when appropriate.

Save room for the pair of desserts, a Thai tea tres leches ($11) and a Vietnamese coffee affogato ($9) that even had non-coffee drinkers swooning.

The drinks: A tidy (nine labels plus a sake) wine list, with a bit of everything: rosés, pet-nats, orange, sparklers, reds and whites ($12-$17 a glass). There's a handful of NA offerings, too, including fermented oolong tea and a spirit-free negroni ($8-$15).

The vibe: Khue's is in the back half of MidCity Kitchen, a shared-used commercial kitchen and event space. It has an industrial feel, with paintings to soften the (very) bright-colored walls. The noise level is moderate; we could easily carry on a conversation during the busy dinner rush.

Worth noting: There's plenty of parking nearby, including a small lot at Khue's. To enter the restaurant, walk around toward the back of the building and go up the steps of the patio, which, judging from our visit on a 70-degree night, will be quite popular this summer.