Good morning, Vietnam

Most people, upon hearing the words "Vietnamese cuisine," immediately think of pho, the long thin noodles that dominate most Vietnamese restaurants’ menus. They think of huge steaming bowls of stew with noodles, beef, coriander, and mint leaves, and of big heavy meals.

In truth, though, is that the Southeast Asian country has much more to offer. Ced and Cez Ramirez, couple and co-owners of the French-Vietnamese restaurant Vienne CuChi at the Blue Wave Complex in Pasay, are making an ever-growing number of people aware of that fact.

"It’s actually a very healthy and light cuisine," Cez explains over an appetizer of fresh spring rolls, called goi cuon. There is no arguing with her – the rolls are made of shrimp served with fleshy vegetables like carrots and radish in a thin rice wrapper. "The culture uses rice and noodles, but many of their dishes involve lots of vegetables," she says.

Vienne CuChi, which opened last year, has a menu that features South Vietnamese cuisine – dishes subtler and lighter than their spicier, more intensely-flavored northern counterparts. Having been a French colony until 1945, South Vietnam mingles the Oriental flavors of Vietnam with the European aesthetics of France. In Saigon, one can still wake up to the smell of baking baguettes, and stroll over to the local bakery for breakfast. In fact, it could be said that Vietnamese food is one of the original precursors to the Asian fusion trend in today’s restaurants. In Vienne CuChi, diners can appreciate a Vietnam beyond your usual pho (which is, incidentally, the Vietnamese version of fast-food).

The restaurant’s chef, Vietnamese Anne Delemos, oversees a steady stream of dishes from the kitchens, culinary gems like beef barbecue, which is served Vietnamese style: the waiter removes the barbecued meat from the skewer, adds pineapple, mint leaves, radishes, cucumbers, carrots and noodles, and wraps the whole thing in rice wrapper served with a peanut sauce.

The best-selling result is so good it’s difficult to believe that it’s actually quite healthy. This is one of the reasons Vietnamese food is considered one of the healthiest cuisines in the world: here, meat is treated more like a condiment, not a main course. Present in every meal, of course, is peanut sauce and nuc nam, a fish sauce very much like our native patis. The sauces provide a nice backdrop for dishes that are gentle, but flavorful.

For those looking for heavier fare, though, one only has to draw upon the French-inspired side of the cuisine: there are caramelized pork ribs, beef curry and fresh lapu-lapu with vermicelli and mushrooms.

"One of the reasons we chose to open a French- Vietnamese restaurant is because we wanted to offer good and also healthy food," says Ced. "More people are becoming conscious about their weight and their health, and this is the place for people like them."

Cez, though, confesses to having a sweet tooth: after the main course she orders light mango crépes ala mode. For the more adventurous, Vienne CuChi also has gelato (ice cream) with ginger and spicy chocolate flavors for dessert – something this writer looks forward to returning to.

The Ramirez couple, who are interior designers in addition to being restaurateurs, have decorated the restaurant in cool earth tones, illuminated by warm yellow lighting, giving the place a more intimate, laid-back ambiance. "People eat to relax, to get away from their worries for a meal," Cez says. "This was a major consideration in designing our restaurants. No one wants to eat out and be uncomfortable."

The couple also owns Plato Platina, an Italian restaurant and bar, and Stars and Stripes, the American steak bar. A couple of 10 happy years (and engaged for eight years before that!), and parents to three children, their family has just grown to accommodate their three newest "babies."

Partners at home and in the office, the high school sweethearts, both in their mid-thirties, rarely spend time apart. From their school days, to their joint business in interior design, to their new restaurants, to their plans for another restaurant in the planned Mall of Asia on Roxas Boulevard, their life has been one long shared adventure. "An advantage," Ced laughs, "is that I can go home late and I do not have to explain to my wife where I’ve been, because she’s been with me all day."

It’s a beautiful thing to see such a fruitful loving union. Just as beautiful as a plate of barbecue, pho and vegetables, served with nuc nam, sesame seeds and love.

(For inquiries about Vienne Cuchi and Ced and Cez’s other restaurants, call 832-9812.)