My new plate and my cultural literacy

I love my new plate that Molly made me from a recycled plate and some creativity / special paint and baking it in the oven --- this Christmas! (She brought it all the way from CA too! ) We have been enjoying eating, drinking and being merry this winter at the lake and we have been trying a new eating place in in the hood at the church again (one of our favorite pastimes) and luring people over to new family owned businesses by immigrants in town!

This restaurant has been owned by four different families in four years we have lived here --- again -- as we lived her nine years in the 80's when Fourth Street was a yarn shop, boot shop, auto parts shop and totally different.

First this auto parts store turned restaurant was SUPER POULOS and we loved the barbecued chicken that was made on the homemade large grill outdoors. You could smell barbecued chicken all through the HOOD! And we hated to hear they have moved away to Garden city, KS.
Then this place/restaurant went to two different Hispanic families and two different food spots... and now it has turned into Vientianne with new decorating and new menu items!

We have been telling everyone about it and hoping to get folks to venture to nearby places to eat after church (one of my secret missions). We have found a few friends to try it with us who have all enjoyed the new taste treats and agreed it is fine dining ----- and I am working on a few to try it. It seems these places to eat in the hood are not as shiny as the fancy ones out in the western part of town by the malls and big box stores, but they have all homemade food with families trying to make it and share their foods and culture with us!

The only problem is that we were telling everyone it was a Vietnamese Restaurant and new decorating, Asian music via new digital TV's, food indoors!

So after several weeks now of trying the sweet and sour fish, tilapia, curry, spring rolls, barbecued chicken wings and other dishes, last week we discovered -- while walking over after church with a friend ------ that the name Vietianne is the capital of LAOS ------ as our friend has suggested ---- and maybe it was not Vietnamese food afterall~! Duh? Once again my cultural literacy needs help!

We asked the young waitress and she said she was Laotian and the food was Laotian, Thai and Chinese! And they do also own the market down the street to the EAST! So once again we enjoyed the wonderful tastes of Vietianne and we hope to invite more friends to enjoy the tasty cuisine, eat in the hood nearby the church and expand my cultural literacy!!

Oh yes, i looked it up in our World Atlas and sure enough, there is Vientiann as the capitale of Laos! I guess it might be time to try the Drunken noodles with shrimp that Pete and Ken tried. The curry is super too that Liz suggested (I tried it last Sunday) and I can't wait to try out Vientianne again this Sunday with the yummy spring rolls!
Getting hungry yet?