The Spicy Basil Chicken entree combines stir-fried chicken with bell peppers, onions and basil in a spicy garlic sauce. Photo by Laura Petrilla.

Sweet Basil &
La Filipiniana

Squirrel Hill - 2022 Murray Ave.
412/422-8950; 412/606-0278, mysweetbasil.com
Tues.-Sun.: lunch,11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; dinner, 5-10 p.m. BYOB (no corkage fee). Nonsmoking.
Lawrenceville - 5321 Butler St.
412/781-8724; 412/606-0279, mysweetbasil.com
Tues.-Sun.: dinner only, 5-10 p.m.
BYOB (no corkage fee). Nonsmoking.

Sweet Basil & La Filipiniana serves up colorful plates of Filipino and Thai cuisine, a fusion that's unique to the restaurant's two locations.

Both menus are identical (with small Filipino section at the Lawrenceville location).
Soups: $2.95-$3.95; Salads: $6.95-$7.95; Starters: $3.95-$5.95; Entrees: $9.95-$14.95
*Filipino Section
Starters: $2.95; Entrees: $11.95-$14.95; Vegetarian: $9.95; Desserts: $2.95-$5.95

Splendor in the Lemongrass

Our sojourn in the foyer at the street-smart Sweet Basil & La Filipiniana on Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill is barely long enough to get our coats off and our hands around a pot of steaming jasmine tea. The delicate floral brew takes the chill out of our bones like a late-winter chinook breaking a cold snap. As my husband, Brad, and I palm-cradled our teacups, we felt the outright power of a dignified ritual that defined an empire and a commodity that helped stimulate 16th-century trade.

East is pleasantly fused with West tonight as we enjoy (a recording of) guitar virtuoso Joe Pass. It was all the atmosphere we needed. Bright walls with modern art and a few old crystal chandeliers give an avant-garde, gallery effect, slightly too bright by dining standards but just right for art-world denizens and restaurant critics who want to see beneath the radar.

Fortunately the menu's rheostat is quantitatively set at just the right level. Categorical selections vary without being too lengthy or numerically overwhelming. As a traveling friend says, when you visit Thailand, you make the evolution from an enchanted outsider to a serious native once you discover street-vendor noodles and realize the sort of honest flavors that trump tradition, elements such as lemongrass, galangal and ginger sautés. Exotic ingredients become the toys of a Thai chef.

When Tony and Ta Tongdee bought La Filipiniana in Lawrenceville four years ago, former owner Toddy Schipper taught them her Filipino style of cooking. Tony was already a Thai chef who had learned under the tutelage of his mother (his family owns the House of Siam in Ross Township).

So Tony and Ta decided to blend the two cuisines and update the restaurant's name to Sweet Basil & La Filipiniana, the only Thai/Filipino restaurant I've heard of anywhere. In 2006, a second location was opened in Squirrel Hill.

Tony and Ta prepare all the sauces; everything is made from scratch, and no microwaves are used in order to achieve the sort of Thai food that thrives on nuance and allusion. Food sharing and grazing suit the cuisine, inspired by a culture where street vendors and mom-and-pop habitats are the norm. And though Thai food is generally thought of as very spicy, one of its distinguishing characteristics is a balanced blend of spicy/sweet/salty/sour.

Juggling two restaurant locations and keeping a quality balance going can prove to be a challenge, but Tony says he goes out of his way to maintain freshness and consistency at both locations. "We are picky about our ingredients and presentations, so we are taking time for people to enjoy food with the eye as well as with the mouth," he asserts in his very humble way.

At the Squirrel Hill site, we fell head over heels for the soups - a deliciously mild, milky coconut galangal soup, served with chicken, shrimp or mushrooms; and an equally pleasing lemongrass soup, simultaneously rich, spicy and bracing for those who like intense, ethereal flavor, with mushrooms floating on top of a steaming, citrus-y broth.

A "fresh roll" is made with basil leaves, mint leaves, cucumber, carrots, vermicelli noodles and tofu and wrapped in rice paper. Photo by Laura Petrilla.

What are usually referred to as "spring rolls" are "fresh" rolls here - an orthodox Thai mix of basil, mint, cucumbers, carrots, tofu and vermicelli that's wound into individual compartments and neatly wrapped in moist rice paper. The rolls are served with classic brown peanut sauce (they rival my favorite in this genre at Tram's).

Entrees are defined by their particular sauce base - choices include spicy basil or red chili - rather than naming each dish for its primary components - vegetable, chicken, beef or pork, shrimp or seaweed. The house is famous for its earthy curries, with coconut milk and pastes blended from scratch. You can smell fresh green hot curry in a mix of broccoli, green bean, eggplant, zucchini and bell pepper. Panang curry is creamy and sweet; red curry is hot and spicy. Mix and match your dishes if you are a table of more than one.

Tony suggests a curry dish, a noodle dish and a Filipino selection such as pork adobo and perhaps chicken with basil sauce. The spice meter runs on a scale from 1 to 10, and "7" is where I found comfort with spicy, soft, flat noodles served with napa cabbage and basil in spicy garlic sauce. I preferred this over the universally loved pad Thai, embraced in Thailand with the same fervor as the hot dog is in ball fields all over America - a dish locals and tourists clamor for. In Thailand, each vendor stirs up his own signature version of stir-fry noodles, chicken or shrimp, peanuts, eggs and whatever else meets the vendor's fancy.

Now, here's a little advice about those garnishes that accompany most dishes. These artfully cut raw fruit and vegetables - forests of mint, shredded cabbage and bean sprouts - are truly meant to be eaten, interjecting a crunchy, cool edge against a spicy aftertaste.

And some more advice: Chat with servers and let them know if you're a vegetarian, an adventurer or a timid diner, or if you're especially interested in Thai authenticity. It may look like Chinese, or Indian or Malay, but Thai food has its own unmistakable flavor - clean, light and predicated on the balance of sweetness and heat.

So now let's head to Lawrenceville. On commercial Butler Street, near the Tudor gateway to Allegheny Cemetery, Sweet Basil & La Filipiniana's sister restaurant (same name; Lawrenceville locale came first) presents an almost-identical bill of fare with its Squirrel Hill offspring. What's different here is that you'll find the gentler Filipino cuisine of the decade old La Filipiniana on the back of the menu.

Sweet Basil & La Filipiniana's Lawrenceville spot has the original tin walls and same bright colors as the Squirrel Hill location. Photo by Laura Petrilla.

Both nooks attract their own particular groupies. The lights are dimmer at the Lawrenceville spot, with original tin walls and the same bright colors. Look up to see the "Thai 'angels'" - sweet-looking gargoyles - overhead. The tea seemed even better with the lights dim. "Good without sugar," winked our server as we raised our cups to toast. A great little place to duck into, the restaurant projects a cozy, romantic feel. Unfortunately, the night before our visit there was a mishap with the stove, we were told, and it seemed opening up for business may have been a last-minute decision. A few items were unavailable, but we still enjoyed crispy curry puffs, tiny pie-like pastries filled with minced chicken, sweet-potato, carrot and onion; and long, thin crab rolls fried light and crisp, with a velvety piquant plum dipping sauce.

A great pick proved to be the grilled-beef salad, which was sparked with cool, charbroiled beef bursting with spicy flavor on top of a fresh spring mix. It was served with simple royal fried rice, a house mix of jasmine rice combined with long grain. (Note: No sauces are on the table.) A drop of soy sauce would have made it terrific. The spicy noodle dish I loved in Squirrel Hill was slightly overcooked here, and we noticed its spice meter seemed to be running at only about half as spicy.

We did flip the menu to try "Taste of La Filipiniana," a fusion dish representative of the food of the Philippines, a cuisine that is less spicy than Thai. The dish reminded me of a Thai version of mulligan stew: a large cake of rice surrounded by tender, aromatic potatoes, carrots, shrimp, beef caldereta with olives, and banana heart curry that looks and tastes like artichoke spiked with lemongrass and special sauce.

After so much spice, homemade coconut and green-tea ice cream - Tony makes both himself - sound soothing. Right now, I can't wait for summer, when I can chase the spirits of Thailand with a tall, iced coffee - strong, sweet and milky.

These days, when one person says it's the "best Thai" in Pittsburgh, quietly file the thought away. But when that phrase is repeated over and over, it's enough to overcome hibernal inertia, take the leap and flirt with the menu. As with all commerce, there's never unanimous agreement, only pools of consensus. And that's the fun of it, not to mention - it's what makes a market.

Each month, Deborah McDonald jump-starts appetites with lively restaurant reviews that scrutinize who's cooking what and where. She works anonymously, visiting each restaurant at least twice before writing her column.

Do you know of a restaurant you'd like to have reviewed? E-mail Deborah.

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