Nationally acclaimed chef Mai Pham expanded her Southeast Asian food emprie in Sacramento with the opening of her newest restaurant, Star Ginger Asian Grill & Noodle Bar, on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, and ever since I heard about it I wanted to see what it was all about. From her incredible food and cocktails that I've had at her landmark restaurant, and then the local and affordable convenience of her addition on Howe (Lemongrass Noodle Bar), I was hooked. This is exactly the kind of food that is approachable for novice foodies to the Asian dining scene, and Pham gives a wonderful introduction to what those flavors have to offer! Blending the bold simplicity of Asian street food with th

Promising authentic and affordable Asian street food, Star Ginger will be coming to Sacramento in November. The restaurant is owned by Mai Pham, who also owns Lemon Grass restaurant and noodle bars in Sacramento and several other Star Ginger locations in university campuses including Stanford and Berkeley. “It’s the street foods of Asia,” Pham said. “They’re inexpensive and affordable comfort foods – bowls of noodles, rice, ramen noodle soup and yakisobo, a Japanese chow mein.” The restaurant, to be located in the former Togo’s sandwich shop at the corner of Alhambra and Folsom boulevards, will also include pad Thai, salad rolls, pho soup and south Indian curries. “The majority of the

  Used to be, when I thought of Vietnam, I would think first of the war, and my stepfather Pieter, who spent two tours of duty in the Vietnam War in the Marine Corps special forces.  Actually, Vietnam conjured up visions  of a parade of Vietnam vets who came through my house and my life while I was growing up in Menlo Park.               My father specialized in treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and it seemed that in the 80's and 90's,  Vietnam vets had cornered that market.  We had a guest room out back where many a traumatized vet stayed while under my fathers tutelage. I had a lot of questionable male role models stay in "the study" for varying amounts of time, every one of who

One of the best kept secrets of the South Sacramento area is a small, private school tucked away in the Lanai Shopping Center on Freeport Boulevard, neighboring the Sacramento Executive Airport, where it has existed in rented space for 21 years. Over the years, most of the shopping center tenants have moved away. Meanwhile, countless hours of parent, teacher and student work have gone into transforming a run-down property into a school with colorful classrooms and playgrounds. It has an understated entrance, but Camellia Waldorf School is an oasis for children. The kindergarten yard is home to Mr. Mountain, a big pile of dirt, and Ms. Sandy, a big pile of sand. There are climbing struct