San Francisco Bay Area's Fk Restaurants & Hospitality Opens Fast-casual Asian Box On Friday, March 2, 2012 With Slanted Door Alumna

Guests will soon know the answer to the question "What's in Your Box?" when San Francisco's FK RESTAURANTS & HOSPITALITY debuts its innovative Asian Box concept in Palo Alto, CA, on Friday, March 2, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. Inspired by Asian street food carts, Asian Box will showcase traditional cooking methods and recipes made with fresh and local ingredients. Under the direction of Executive Chef Grace Nguyen-formerly of Charles Phan's acclaimed Slanted Door and Out The Door-Asian Box effortlessly fuses Western locavore cuisine with the colorful, flavorful foods found throughout Southeast Asia. Setting a new bar within the quickly growing fast-casual category of restaurants, Asian Box's menu and facility are completely gluten-free, fulfilling CEO Frank Klein's desire to offer guests an authentic dining experience that is fun, exciting, healthy, and quickly dtam sang, or made to order. Klein and his partners will open two additional Asian Box locations in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2012.

"I love Asian cuisine but have always found it challenging to find places offering fresh and authentic menus, especially in the fast-casual sector," Klein says. "Asian Box evolved from the idea of the kind of restaurant I'd want to eat at and introduce to my family and friends."

Asian Box's approach is summed up in its playful tagline: "What's in Your Box?" These four words refer not only to the compostable packaging in which the cuisine is served, but also reference the importance of knowing how the food gets to the plate. "It doesn't matter if you are in a fine-dining restaurant or a grab-and-go shop," Klein says. "More and more, people want to know where their food comes from and how it's being prepared." Asian Box is not only completely gluten-free; it is also a green restaurant using compostable materials and energy efficient practices. "It's people-healthy and earth-friendly," says Klein.

Bringing influences from her Vietnamese heritage to the table, Nguyen has worked with FK RESTAURANTS & HOSPITALITY's Culinary Director Chad Newton to craft a menu that focuses on flavor and fresh ingredients with fast execution. "Quickly served food remains in high demand, but there has been a shift in diner preferences. They want food that's raised responsibly, sourced locally and prepared fresh," Nguyen notes. Authenticity is also an important aspect for Nguyen, who learned traditional cooking methods and recipes from her Vietnamese grandmother.

Asian Box's exciting menu offers a variety of tasty options that feature items guests might find at a street cart, while simplifying the ordering process. With menu items starting at $6.95, Asian Box allows guests to create their own "boxes" by selecting from a number of ingredients. Diners are invited to choose from Asian Vegetable Salad, Rice Noodles with Mushroom Broth, Brown Rice or White Rice and add main events such as Lemongrass Marinated Pork, Garlic and Soy Glazed Beef, and Coconut Curry Tofu, for example. A selection of wok steamed or wok spiced vegetables, crispy shallots, fresh jalapeno, caramel eggs, and more than a dozen additional toppers allow guests to create a box based on their preferences and experience a different combination every time they visit. Housemade sauces include Miss Jones' Sriracha, Asian Box Tamarind Vinaigrette, and Asian Street Dust ($.25), a top secret blend of exotic herbs and spices. The crown jewel of housemade sauces for Asian Box is the HotBoxIt sauce ($.75), made from California-grown Asian peppers. Nguyen's explosive wok blend of peppers, peppercorns, and chili oils, HotBoxIt sauce is not for the timid and is guaranteed to add some fire to the dish. These sauces