TRIANGLE TODAY | THE NEWS & OBSERVER
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2018
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CO MORE THAN TRENDY
ASIAN FUSION Greg Cox for Triangle Today
Entering CO, it’s easy to get the impression that this is just one more fashionable feather in the cap for the Park District at North Hills, a retail-and-residential complex that has earned a reputation as a magnet for trendy concept restaurants. The sleek modern decor certainly fits the image. It’s highlighted by a series of framed black-and-white photographs with an Asian theme against a backdrop of Chinese lacquer red and black. A first look at the menu checks off every Asian food trend you can think of, reinforcing that image. Poke bowls? Check. Hand-made dumplings? Check. Banh mi? Check. Noodle dishes? Multiple checks, including the obligatory ramen and pho. Look a little closer, though, and you’ll begin to spot the clues that CO is anything but a slick concept developed by some corporate marketing department. The first one to catch my eye, tucked in among the ramen and pho variations under the “Broth Noodles”
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heading, is a dish called curry laksa. Malaysian in origin, curry laksa is a rare find in these parts. I’ve only come across it at two restaurants: Rasa Malaysia in Chapel Hill, and Merlion, the Singaporean restaurant that preceded it in that spot. Definitely not the sort of dish that a corporate marketing department would put on the menu at a trendy concept restaurant. Unless you want to call Greg Bauer the marketing department. Bauer, who owns all seven CO locations, first had curry laksa while serving as a Marine in Southeast Asia. He liked it so much that, when he opened the first CO in Charleston, S.C., in 2012, he put it on the menu — against the advice of friends in the business, who told him it wouldn’t sell because people weren’t familiar with it. Curry laksa has since become the restaurant’s signature dish. Well, no wonder. CO’s updated take on the classic dish serves up a tangled skein of rice noodles and shredded chicken in a spice-fragrant broth
CO’s Green Papaya Salad is made up of green papaya, shrimp, char siu pork, cabbage, carrots, jalapeño, crispy onions, peanuts, thai basil and sweet lime vinaigrette. Juli Leonard
reminiscent of a yellow coconut curry, and tops it off with an artful arrangement of baby bok choy, shredded cucumber and plump grilled shrimp. A side plate of bean sprouts, fresh basil, cilantro, jalapeño and a lime wedge round out a presentation that satisfies cravings for Thai and Vietnamese in a single dish. Curry laksa isn’t the only instance of Bauer’s willingness to go against the
grain. Listed under the “Wok Noodles & Rice Dishes,” among the expected pad thai, udon and hibachi suspects, you’ll find com chien, a Vietnamese fried rice dish riddled with fresh vegetables and salty-funky Shanghai sausage, and a fried egg if you like.
See Greg’s complete review at triangletoday.com.
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