34229 Mon Feb 07 20:34:27 -0800 2005 1 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 154252 Help! I've delayed my search 'til now, since I didn't realize that the Eve of the New Year is the celebrated occasion, not the New Year's Day in Vietnamese culture. I'd like to do something special for my Vietnamese BF, but I have no idea how to cook Vietnamese food and I don't have the time to run over to the South Bay for exotic ingredients before tomorrow night!!! Does anyone know of a good restuarant I can take him to that will be a New Year celebratory dinner in Vietnamese style????? Help!! Mon Feb 07 20:34:27 -0800 2005 0 Chickeny Rooster 1 154378 Hi, I'm Vietnamese and my family never did anything the night before Tet, it's always on Tet itself that we celebrate. Also I don't know of any Vietnamese restaurants that has special Viet dishes for Tet, except for takeout. But if you got the notion of doing something special the night before from your boyfriend, then maybe he or his family are partly Chinese, since that is the Chinese custom. So maybe you can take him to a nice Chinese restaurant and ask for some traditional Lunar New Year dishes. The SF board & the General Topics board have had a few posts on what are typical Chinese "New Year" dishes, like whole roast chicken, veggies with "fairy hair", etc. I don't know where in the Bay Area you want restaurant suggestions, but I'm sure any of the major Chinese restaurants, and even large Viet restaurants, will have some "New Year" dishes (since a full banquet might be too much for the 2 of you). Just a warning: It'll probably be very hard to get a table tonight at a Chinese restaurant. Maybe takeout from a Viet or Chinese restaurant might not be a bad idea. Tue Feb 08 17:44:01 -0800 2005 154252 0 Alice Ringer