Bart Ripp; The News Tribune

Audrey, one of our readers from Fife, was desperate and called for help.

"Mr. Ripp," Audrey said in a voice that could have been heard in Bonney Lake, "I need to find a Vietnamese place. It's my husband's birthday and he won't eat anything but Vietnamese (food) when we go out."

I told Audrey about a fine new restaurant called Le-Le. Good food, low prices, big portions, clean place, friendly folks. Then I made a mistake. I said it was on Tacoma's Hilltop.

"Oh my God," Audrey said, "there's just no way. There's no way we want to take that kind of risk just for dinner. Good-bye."

Slam.

How pleasant. Unlike Audrey, anybody who's been around the economic resurgence on Tacoma's Hilltop knows that the once-struggling area has been galvanized by remodeled housing and new businesses. And now it has Le-Le, one of the best Vietnamese restaurants I've found in the South Sound.

A hard-working family opened Le-Le on May 18 in a dingy storefront vacated by Linh Son Restaurant. They retained the blue sky paint job and Vietnamese village murals but cleaned up the place bigtime. Without any fanfare from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, they recently evicted the cigarette smokers.

"I have allergies and I couldn't breathe," said owner Anh H. Tran, who goes by Andy here in the new country.

Another reason for tossing out the ashtrays was Andy's wife. The restaurant's namesake, manager and chief server is his wife Dza-Thao H. Le, aka Le-Le. She is pregnant, due around Dec. 31, and the smoke was making her dizzy. They have two sons: Henry, 6, and Dylan, 3.

And they have a wonderfully talented chef, who happens to be Le-Le's mom, Tuc T. Dinh - or just Tuc. The South Sound's most popular Vietnamese restaurant is the recently expanded East & West Cafe near Tacoma Mall. Tuc was the East & West's chef for eight years.

Before coming to America, Tuc was in a terrible place. She spent nearly three years in a Vietnamese prison, suffering beatings and worse - for the singular offense of being married to Ngu Le, who was a Vietnam Air Force major. He survived seven years in the Communist-run prison.

"Before that, Tuc made food for the big guys," Andy Tran said, meaning that she was a chef for the Air Force chief of command.

Andy Tran came to Tacoma in 1986 at age 14 from a town called Tay Ninh, west of Saigon and near the Cambodian border. Andy was accompanied by his brother, whose name, believe it or not, is Andrew Tran. Andy and Andrew lived in Tacoma with an uncle and graduated from Lincoln High School.

Andy earned a bachelor of science degree in electronic engineering technology, with a math minor, from Central Washington University. He supplemented his education by working as an interpreter. He pumped gas. He washed dishes. He always wanted his own business.

Eight years ago, he met Le-Le, freshly arrived from Saigon. She has raised the boys while Andy worked as a computer specialist for the Social Security Administration in Tacoma. His day at Social Security starts at 5:30 a.m. He gets off at 2, then works in the restaurant until 9:30 every night.

"We work hard to make everything nice for everyone," Le-Le said.

Tuc and assorted cousins and friends do the cooking - Vietnamese with a few Thai and Indonesian items. Stick with Vietnamese basics such as Tuc's tightly wrapped and utterly fresh spring rolls ($1.25) bursting with prawns, rice noodles and cucumber.

Like everything on the menu but desserts, the spring rolls are made fresh to order. Be patient, for there is little prepping in this kitchen.

Tuc makes six varieties of pho, the bountiful beef noodle soup ($5.50-$4.50) popular in Vietnam's north. Plus, she excels at hu tieu, the rice noodle soup ($5.50-$4.95) served in Vietnam's south, and mi, the egg noodle soup ($5.50-$4.95) served with pork, seafood, sprouts and vegetables.

I like Tuc's bœn - the salad bowls served by street vendors in Vietnamese towns. There are 15 varieties of bœn ($6-95-$4.95), all made to order. Some are served on a tray so you can do your own fixings of lettuce, herbs and rice paper.

Tuc excels at curry, dabbling in Indian and Thai curries. I like her green curry ($7.50-$6.50).

I like most the last nine of 68 items ($6.95 prawns, $6.50 chicken) on Le-Le's large menu. Tuc shines at swimming angel of sauteed spinach, sprouts and carrots topped with a vibrant peanut sauce. Check out her basil and garlic dishes, too.

The final item is an excellent Shanghai stir-fry invigorated with orange juice, ginger, wild rice, sesame oil, wine and tangy red chilies. This sweet and sour citrus rice dish shows off Tuc's talents.

There are some incandescent flavors here, especially if you request five-star heat. Chill out with green tea or mango ice cream ($2.50).

And chill, too, any fears of dining on Tacoma's rejuvenated Hilltop. This is a swell new addition to the city's impressive roster of Vietnamese restaurants. Just go.

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* Bart Ripp dines unannounced. His meals are paid for by The News Tribune. Restaurants are rated for food, service and atmosphere according to this system: 5 stars - great, 4 - excellent, 3 - good, 2 - OK, 1 - shaky, 0 - forget it.

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SIDEBAR: Review

What: Le-Le Restaurant.

Where: 1012 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma.

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.

Accommodations: Credit cards OK. Beer & wine. No smoking.

Cost: inexpensive.

Information: 253-572-9491.

Food: * * * (3 of 5)

Service: * * (2 )

Atmosphere: * * (2 )

© The News Tribune

11/30/2001