Once upon a time, there was a wizard-chef named Bryant Ng and his fair lady, Kim. They took over an crumbling old warehouse-like building in Downtown Los Angeles's Little Tokyo and made it cozy and inviting, with a nice, sturdy bar right up front, softly glowing, hanging lamps fashioned from bird cages, and long wooden tables. Each day (except Sunday) at lunch and dinner, their palace, called the Spice Table, is filled with the flavors of Singapore and Vietnam, and especially pleasant wafts of smoke from sizzling meats on open flames. Wanderers from across the land arrive and eat satays of lamb belly and chile prawns, and an intriguing concoction of peanuts and anchovies, which certainly contains a love potion of some sort. They feast on kon loh mee--egg noodles with ground pork and spices, and always save room for Kaffir lime custard. They wake up the next morning in their own beds wondering if it had been a hazy dream, but then realize that pile of clothes at the foot of the bed really does smell like smoked meat. The moral of our story? Even if a wily fox or up-to-no-good scorpion offers to lead you to The Spice Table, take him up on it. And order more than you at first think will be enough. There's a crisp Albarino that goes perfectly, too.
