Restaurants are no longer just about filling an empty stomach.

Nowadays, “fine dining” means elaborate multi-course meals and set menus for triple the price of regular five-star restaurants.

And somewhat surprisingly, Vietnam is no exception.

Featuring highly trained waiting staffs, top quality produce and the freshest, most expensive, ingredients, fine dining establishments have arrived in Vietnam, with each looking to define its own signature style incomparable to others.

Due to the steep prices, few can afford to have such “fine” meals, but the nouveaux riches in Vietnam, plus a healthy congregation of wealthy expats, are eating it up.

FINE DINING IN VIETNAM

IN HO CHI MINH CITY

• Le Caprice
5B Ton Duc Thang St., Dist. 1

• Olivier, Sofitel Saigon Plaza
17 Le Duan Blvd, Dist. 1

• Signature, Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Tower
88 Dong Khoi St., Dist. 1
191 Hai Ba Trung St., Dist. 3

IN DA LAT

• Le Rabelais, Sofitel Dalat Palace
12 Tran Phu St.

IN HANOI

• Le Beaulieu, Hotel Legend Sofitel Metropole Hanoi
15 Ngo Quynh St., Hoan Kiem Dist.

• Spices Garden, Hotel Legend Sofitel Metropole Hanoi
15 Ngo Quynh St., Hoan Kiem Dist.

IN HOI AN

Senses, Life Resort Hoi An
1 Pham Hong Thai St.

“Our customers can be those who want to impress very important customers or even impress their lovers,” said Vincent Tan, executive chef at Equatorial Hotel.

The down low

Benjamin Attwater, a chef at Park Hyatt Saigon, explained the hefty price tags associated with fine dining: “to make a nice shape and different design fine dining dishes, the chef has to cut and waste a lot of food. Fine dining restaurants are not places one comes every day.”

One of the most important aspects of a fine dining restaurant is its ambience, its ability to take you away to another world.

Le Caprice offers breathtaking views of the Saigon River and a panoramic vista of the city.

Senses restaurant at Life Resort in Hoi An was designed to remind guests of Vienna.

Less is more

Fine dining restaurants eschew the “bigger the better” philosophy, banking on the fact that wealthy people watch what they eat and are content with paying more to eat less.

The first impression food projects when it is served is very important, so presentation is key.

“Just like a photograph, or a painting, a dish should be attractive and catch the eye immediately. And like a painting, a dish should have balance,” said Attwater.

Martin Bequart, executive chef at the Sofitel Saigon Plaza agreed, “Presenting a dish takes a lot of playing with ideas, colors, volumes, plate dressings, and setups.”

“The food is like a beautiful woman who just woke up in the morning. She should take care of herself with some nice clothes, make-up, accessories and perfume to make her more sexy and attractive. The same with the food after being cooked,” said Bequart.

“New fine dining restaurants are opening all the time in Vietnam, and more and more expat chefs want to show off their style here,” said Attwater. “Many young Vietnamese chefs are also learning about fine dining restaurants, and many of them, I’m sure, will be well recognized in their own right in the near future.”

A man in the Central Highlands has transformed his cafe into a Jurassic Park of sorts, displaying more than 300 fossils he"s collected, some of them dating from hundreds of millions of years ago.

Most of the fossils on display at Hoang Thanh"s cafe in the Dak Lak Province town of Buon Ma Thuot are the remains of ferns and pines. Dozens of them are the remains of animals. Thanh collected the artifacts for dozens of years all over the highlands region.

His largest wood fossil, 1.7 meters long and weighing more than two tons, has been identified by scientists as coming from the Jurassic period 175 million years ago, Thanh said.

People can still see the core of the wood and its brown bark.

Another fossil 2.2 meters long is a mixture of minerals from a volcanic eruption. It makes a loud bell-like sound when struck. 

Thanh calls it the “rock bell” and named his café after it: Chuong Da.

He has refused several offers to buy his fossils. They are "too precious" for money, he said.

The “Great Wall” of central Vietnam tells a fascinating story of collaboration and ingenuity

Archaeologists study artifacts unearthed at a post on the rampart in the Chim Hut Pass area in the central province of Quang Ngai. (Photo by Hien Cu)

Archeologists surmise that it is an unusual work involving local indigenous H’re people, the Kinh ethnic group and Nguyen Dynasty soldiers.

After five years of excavation and study, it has been determined that the 200km-long rampart that runs from Quang Ngai to Binh Dinh provinces in central Vietnam is around 500 years old.

Researchers from the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology and the French School of the Far East in Hanoi say the historical relic runs along the Truong Son mountain range through eight districts of Quang Ngai before running into the districts of An Lao and Hoai Nhon in Binh Dinh, separating the plains and the highlands.

The longest and largest rampart in the country and the entire Southeast Asian region winds through mountains and valleys, sometimes at altitudes of nearly 800m, is 4-5m high and 6m wide at its base.

The wall is large and diverse, made of stone in some places to avoid landslides on high slopes and mountainous areas. These parts are a testament to the amazing rock arrangement skills of the indigenous H"Re people. The parts made of earth/lay were built mostly by the Kinh people and soldiers of the Nguyen Dynasty.

The rampart’s stones arrangement techniques, varying in different sections and terrains, can also be seen in structures on Ly Son Island in Quang Ngai Province.

Many researchers believe, based on notes found in the book of Dai Nam Thuc Luc (the annals of Dai Nam or the true record of the great south) and geographical records maintained during King Dong Khanh’s reign (1885-1889) and other documents compiled under the Nguyen Dynasty, that the rampart with 115 guarded posts was mostly built by general Le Van Duyet of the Nguyen Dynasty in 1819 during the reign of King Gia Long (1802-1820).

However, according to Dr. Nguyen Tien Dong, chief technical officer of the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology, the wall was built more than 500 years ago by the Vietnamese Kinh people, the H’re people and soldiers. By the 19th century, it was maintained as a military project, he said.

Dr. Nguyen Dang Vu, director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ngai, said some sections of the rampart on the mountains in Quang Ngai Province existed several centuries earlier. He speculates that these sections may have been built by General Bui Ta Han (1496–1568), known for both literary and martial art skills, when he was assigned to the head position of Quang Nam.

The discovery of many ceramic artifacts during excavations at some sections of the rampart also proves that the rampart was built in the 16th century, not the 19th; and the close trading relationships that existed between Vietnamese Kinh peoples and the indigenous ethnic minorities, including H"Re, Chinese, Ka Dong, Xo Dang, and the Ba Na.

One more thing that makes the rampart interesting is that it was built not only for protection and military purposes but also to facilitate trade. Along the wall, the sections which are interrupted by many rivers and streams, are the mini-forts, guarded by soldiers, to ensure and create a safe environment for the Kinh and H"Re ethnic people to do business.

Each of the forts mentioned earlier was an open gate that facilitated travel and trade. The H’re people bought salt from Vietnamese people and the Vietnamese people bought rice, cinnamon and forest products from the H’re.

Experts studying the rampart also say that there is evidence that it was not just the Vietnamese Kinh people, but also the Thai and the Muong from Thanh Hoa Province who were part of the migration from the north to the south during the 18th century.

During the Vietnam War, the rampart sections in Duc Pho and Hoai Nhon districts in Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh provinces respectively were also used as a branch of the Ho Chi Minh Trail to transport weapons and food from the north to the south of the country.

Unearth and preserve

Researchers say the conclusions they have reached over the last five years are still preliminary findings. They are looking for foreign documents about the relic, and will continue excavation works to unlock more secrets about the very unique architectural structure.

Dr. Nguyen Giang Hai, vice director of the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology, said that, “The heritage is still alive if only the locals have the heart to preserve. Therefore, there is a need to sow the seed of consciousness for protecting the relic in the community living alongside the structure.”

Prof. Christopher Young, head of the UK Heritage Council’s Advisory Board, said, “The general principle is that a world heritage is not something to admire, but that it is for the benefit of people. Therefore, the development of tourism related to this relic should involve benefits such as income-generation opportunities for communities living alongside.”

For its part, the institute should help Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh prepare the application for the rampart to be recognized as a national, cultural and historical relic. The legal recognition will help to protect it better and will also be necessaery preparatory work for subsequent recognition as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO, Hai added.

The government will also allow foreign tourists to claim refund of value added tax (VAT) when they buy goods during the two months under the “Impressive Vietnam Grand Sale 2010” program, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Meanwhile, many shops, trade centers, and service providers in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City have pledged to offer discounts of 10-40 percent to both local and foreign tourists during the promotion.

Vietnam attracted 1.35 million foreign visitors in the first quarter this year, a 36 percent year-on-year increase.

The country hopes to welcome 4.2 million visitors this year.

Eight local tour operators recently gathered in Hanoi to officially launch the Responsible Travel Club of Vietnam (RTC), with the goal of promoting tourism that respects the ecosystem, biodiversity and local cultural values.

The members include Footprint Travel, Indochina Travelland, Active Travel, Blue Swimmer Adventures, Freewheelin’ Tours, La Vie Vu Linh, I Travel and Sisters Tours Vietnam.

According to Dang Xuan Son, product manager for Footprint Travel and chairman of the club, RTC aims at working closely with travel firms, NGOs, communities and authorities to promote responsible tourism in Vietnam, design and market tourism products.

“Working together is key to the success of responsible travel, which is about giving something back,” he said.

Currently, RTC is working with SNV Netherlands Development Organization in an on-going responsible travel project in Chieng Yen Commune, Moc Chau District in Son La Province.