Tucked away at 111 Avenue C (between 7th and 8th Streets), Vietnamese restaurant Bao 111 (formerly called Sen) offers an intimate dining experience unmatched by current culinary offerings. Years of experience in the restaurant industry has led owners Chris Andrews, Chris Johnson and executive chef /owner Michael Huynh to develop a restaurant that is pleasing to both the palate and the senses.

The quaint 48 seat restaurant is the...

Tucked away at 111 Avenue C (between 7th and 8th Streets), Vietnamese restaurant Bao 111 (formerly called Sen) offers an intimate dining experience unmatched by current culinary offerings. Years of experience in the restaurant industry has led owners Chris Andrews, Chris Johnson and executive chef /owner Michael Huynh to develop a restaurant that is pleasing to both the palate and the senses.

The quaint 48 seat restaurant is the first culinary venture for Chris Andrews and Chris Johnson. Collectively, the duo has managed some of New York City’s most successful restaurants including Balthazar, Bouley, Canteen, Sushi Samba, Town, and Bond Street. Chef /co-owner Michael Huynh is the former owner of ViCaLa and was singled out by the James Beard Foundation as a “tastemaker.” Known as “The Architect Chef,” the self-taught Huynh abandoned a successful architectural career designing and building restaurants when could no longer ignore his rich culinary heritage. Many of Bao 111’s dishes were inspired by Huynh’s mother Nghia Nguyen, who owned a restaurant in their native Vietnam. This early exposure to the classic dishes of Vietnam fostered the Saigon-born (Saigon is now called Ho Chi Minh City) Huynh’s commitment to adapt traditional Vietnamese cooking to the modern palate.

Signature dishes include, the delectable Pho - a traditional Vietnamese soup, Tôm Rim – king prawns simmered with pearl onions, whole garlic and tofu in a bouillabaisse reduction, and a pan fried Ca Chien – sea bass with bean thread, Chinese celery and shitake mushrooms smothered in a ginger bean sauce. Among its dessert offerings Bao111 boasts a delicate Banh Khoai Mí- yucca cake, and some of the most inventive ice creams flavors including Jasmine, Black Sesame and Pandan. Bao 111 is also known for its invigorating hot-infused sake’s, made on the premises with exotic ingredients by co-owner Chris Johnson.

On Sunday evenings, a jazz trio serenades guests to new heights of dining sophistication. Bao 111’s 2:00 AM closing time allows for a superior late-night dining experience as well as the chance for New York City restaurant staff to experience great food after-hours – their way of giving back to this hard-working community.