Aiming higher than the spate of casual Vietnamese eateries lining Colonial Drive, Oviedo's Saigon Flavors certainly has the sultry mood, decorative panache and intimate space that sets it apart from its downtown kin. Deep reds and cool blues with wall cutouts housing assorted objets d'art, including four beautifully painted renderings of Vietnam's four regions, lend to a mood of refined tranquility. So why mar the serenity by situating a hostess stand in the dining room? It's not so much the stand's placement as how it serves as a congregating ground for owner Charlie Tang and his staff, who use it as a forum for idle chatter. Buckling to one's boredom is commonplace in the service biz, but for a restaurant bent on raising the bar, such behavior takes a bit of shimmer off the surface. Both our meals here began with a conscious effort to turn a deaf ear to the chitchat and to nourish our senses with our eyes and mouths.
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