When I first met Phu Tran, I had been indulging in this little hobby of mine for just over a year, about the same amount of time that he had been on the street in his RiceWorks truck slinging fresh, traditional Asian food to grateful office workers. I ended up going back two more times in as many weeks, and the resulting write-up has had over 900 views (it doesn't sound like a lot, but it was for this site back in 2011). Phu was the first chef ever to learn who I was before I actually ended up reviewing him, and he was the first person I interviewed during my ill-advised stint with the Boise Weekly, and believe it or not at that point he was considering calling it quits. Since then, the truck got a helluva paint job, the all-important semi-monthly Food Truck Rally events have allowed many more people to sample his wares, and Phu has begun to focus more on fusion cuisine. All of this has culminated in the opening of an honest-to-goodness brick and mortar restaurant in The Village at Meridian. I considered writing a big, overall retrospective piece on the evolution of RiceWorks, but something tells me that Phu hasn't peaked yet, so let's just talk about last night's dinner instead.
