In San Francisco, for instance, you get guys like Ryan Ostler, at Hi-Lo BBQ, putting smoked brisket and house-made spicy Thai sausage into a Vietnamese-style pho steeped with smoked marrow.

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But since the menus are decided by committee every day with input from French-American sous-chef Philippe Shapiro and others, dishes can veer in any direction, such as the crowd-pleasing Vietnamese-style lobster salad with vermicelli, mango, and a carrot vinaigrette that turned up as a starter one night.

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There are more Vietnamese than westerners at this handsome place in a colonial-style building with a frangipani-shaded courtyard.

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