Columnist Muriel Stevens: Ans bring tradition to Vegas

Wednesday, June 4, 2003 | 8:17 a.m.

It's not unusual for a celebrity restaurant to offer a line of logo merchandise such as hats, T-shirts and cookbooks, but the An Family Collection of gift items, Secret Kitchen sauces, earthenware, serving pieces, decorative objects and accessories is in a class of its own.

The An family owns Crustacean restaurants in Beverly Hills and San Francisco and Prana at Desert Passage at the Aladdin. Their original San Francisco eatery, Thanh Long, is steeped in the history of the family's move to America, when three generations of strong-willed Vietnamese women marshalled forces after the devastating loss of home and country to build a multimillion-dollar food and hospitality corporation in America. The fall of Saigon in 1975 hastened their departure.

Matriarch Helen An is the executive chef of all the restaurants, sharing with her daughter, Hannah, who created the concept for Prana, the secrets she learned at a young age from the three An family chefs. Working with Hannah is her husband, Danny. Another daughter, Monique, is also part of the An team.

Daughter Elizabeth is the artist who designed the restaurants and created the interiors. She is a woman of impeccable taste. Her imprimatur is on everything at Prana, from the glorious fabrics that cover the furniture and walls to the priceless antiquities that celebrate the family's culture and heritage. The lamps she designed are exceptional. After a recent tour of Prana, Elizabeth An's father, Danny, recalled how as a child she would sit for hours immersed in her drawings.

Gift baskets designed by Elizabeth for the An Family Collection are works of art and are available at prices that are dictated by what is included. Crustacean's Secret Kitchen sauces are available in a single pack ($11.95) or a three- or six-pack ($22.95 and $39). These are no ordinary sauces; they are the same recipes used at the restaurants, and are prepared in a secret kitchen. The Ans attribute their success to the secret kitchen, a kitchen within the big kitchen that is off limits to all employees except An family members.

Recipes for using these complex flavorful sauces at home are included with most gift sets. Secret Kitchen sauces are but a small part of the An Family Collection.

There are ceramic serving dishes and wonderful Vietnamese ceremonial candlesticks, silver and moonwood chopstick rests and chopsticks made of ebony moonwood adorned with Imperial jade or mother of pearl. Soup bowls, rice bowls, dipping sauce cups and bread and butter plates are charming. There are handsome silver-and-horn serving pieces and assorted small linens -- place mats and napkins.

Silk hand-stitched journals are perfect for recording ideas or recipes or to use as a day book. Glittery "fantasy" journals would make a lovely gift. Sizes of these journals vary, but they're all beautiful. The An Collection, including the sauces, can be ordered by phone at (866) 263-2625 or at AnFamily.com.

There is an assurance of quality on everything sold. Be aware that some of the collection items may be in short supply because of "import constraints," so it might be wise to call ahead to make certain of availability on some of the more exotic gift items.