The hot-climate cuisines of Thailand and Vietnam rely on kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, ginger, and sweat-inducing chili paste to chase torpor from the table. The adorable Vientiane Café. a 25-seat BYOB with jadeite-green walls and homey cabbage-rose tablecloths, does it well, and inexpensively: at dinner, entrée specials like spicy duck with pungent Thai basil are a mere $13.95
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