In an area known for its excellent Mexican eateries, a new pop-up restaurant experience emerged earlier this year inside Vernor Coney Island. Down the street from Clark Park, Flowers of Vietnam's chef George Azar is successfully merging a traditional diner setting with the colorful and beautifully plated interpretations of Vietnamese dishes.
If you're not looking for it, Flowers might be easy to miss. Decorations that might differentiate from the average Coney Island are sparing. Vietnamese newspapers cover windows on the west side of the building with a few printer paper images taped to walls and furniture throughout the restaurant. Tables are set with containers of chopsticks, Sriracha, and candle-burning lanterns and local DJs often play through the dinner service.
Chef Azar plans to eventually expand the weekend concept into a full-fledge eatery with his interpretation of Coney food in the mornings and a combined Vietnamese-Coney menu at lunch. On a recent Sunday photographers Chris and Michelle Gerard dropped in on the restaurant. Flowers had once again packed the house with diners feasting on huge bowls of pho, plates of Korean-style fried wings, and broken rice. Take in the scene in the gallery above.