Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

The papaya is a staple ingredient in Vietnamese cuisine. The fruit is often used in desserts when ripe and in salads when green. A new Los Gatos restaurant takes its name from the latter.

Green Papaya tempts palates with Vietnam's exotic cuisine

By Suzanne Cristallo

A ripe papaya is a tempting treat: Its golden flesh is juicy, sweet-tart and silky smooth. The pear-shaped fruit is a staple in Vietnamese cuisine, where it is used primarily in salads when green and crunchy and in desserts when mature and sweet.

The papaya comes from a tree that is a horticultural wonder, growing from seed to 20 feet in 18 months. Yet it took less time for Hong Ngo to cultivate her new Green Papaya restaurant in Los Gatos.

Located in the former quarters of Double Rainbow on N. Santa Cruz Avenue, the Green Papaya realizes Ngo's "passion, art and dream." For the past 10 years, Ngo allowed the left side of her brain to dictate her life as an engineering consultant in the software industry. But on Oct. 29, her right brain took over: She opened the restaurant's doors to folks who had been peeking around the papered windows to assess the site's progress since remodeling began in January.

Patrons may see Ngo's creativity upon entering the restaurant. Scenes of the Mekong Delta by artist Diep Huynh add color and ambiance to the restored mahogany-paneled walls. A loft allows diners to wait for a table comfortably with a glass of wine.

Ngo, 39, and a silent partner have nurtured the dream of serving upscale Vietnamese cuisine in a Euro-Asian style for many months with help from Ngo's family. A sibling army of eight brothers and three sisters contributed moral support, shelf construction, menu design and touch-up work.

"We're a tight family," says sister Christina Allen, a lawyer who offered her sister legal advice.

The Ngo family patriarch, a former Green Beret colonel who brought his family to Cupertino 25 years ago, was one of Hong's biggest champions. He died in February, too soon to see the fruits of the family's labor. But the Green Papaya's menu carries on the heritage he left behind.

"Many dishes have a connection to our lives and family," Hong Ngo says.

For example, the Hue steamed sea bass, is named after the seaport in Vietnam where Hong's maternal grandparents and other family members (who were related to Ming Dynasty royalty) lived. The steamed sea bass, which is wrapped in a banana leaf to retain moisture, is served with shiitake mushrooms, tomatoes and glass noodles, the gossamer threads of starch made from green mung beans.

Ngo says the Thang Long red snapper combines the best elements of European and Asian cuisine. The fish is broiled with dill and turmeric, the ancient root lending an exotic fragrance and brilliant yellow color.

The menu includes large plates of seafood, pork chops, beef and chicken. The salads include the Green Papaya, which uses thin slices of the young fruit with mango, cherry tomatoes and an olive/lemon vinaigrette. The restaurant also serves pho, the hearty meal in a soup, along with bouillabaisse of lemon grass and a variety of rice and noodle dishes. All entrees may be topped off with a dessert like sherry-wine crème caramel.

Ngo says she is still developing the menu, and lots of family enthusiasm centers around testing new dishes. "I'm going to have to come up with a policy regarding relatives wanting to eat here," Ngo jokes.

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The Green Papaya, 137 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos. Open Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. 408.395.9115.

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