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Elephant Walk - Boston

900 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02215
617-247-1500

Elephant Walk - Boston restaurant information
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Owned and operated by mother-daughter duo Longteine and Nadsa de Monteiro, the Elephant Walk has been serving award-winning French-Cambodian cuisine since 1991. The menus reflect the founders' ethnic and cultural heritages, combining the exotic (that's the Cambodian side) and the familiar (that's the French side).

Now with locations in Boston, Cambridge and Waltham, the Elephant Walk makes its bi-cultural fare accessible and convenient for everyone. The restaurant also offers a broad range of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free choices. Add to that an award-winning wine list and a knowledgeable and personable staff and you've got the perfect spot for your next gathering, be it personal or professional.

 

News and Events at Elephant Walk - Boston restaurant

Cooking at The Elephant Walk
Add a touch of French-Cambodian flair to your cooking repertoire with some help from Nyep andNadsa de Montiero

Dinnerfest 2012
Before you settle in to watch the Oscars, drop by the Brahmin for an afternoon/evening of do-gooding at the ...

Super Hunger Brunch 2012
Get ready to brunch for a good cause at The Greater Boston Food Bank's Super Hunger Brunch, an annual ...

Longteine "Nyep" de Monteiro

Chef at Elephant Walk - Boston

Chef Longteine "Nyep" de Monteiro at Elephant Walk - Boston

Longteine de Monteiro has known a life of both privilege and hardship. Born to an upper class Cambodian family, she married Kenthao, a high ranking politician and a rising diplomat who was named Cambodia's Ambassador to Taiwan in 1971. Their world changed forever when the Khmer Rouge overthrew the Cambodian government in 1975. Hundreds of thousands, including her mother and brother, were slaughtered in the killing fields of Cambodia. As refugees, de Monteiro and her family moved back and forth twice between Taiwan and France before finally settling in 1979 in Béziers, located in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the South of France. It was there that she opened her first restaurant Amrita, in 1980.

Although de Monteiro, known to friends as Nyep, has little formal training as a chef, she says she was born to cook. Her mother taught her the fundamentals of Cambodian cuisine and she learned French cooking on her own as a teenager to please her father. As a diplomat's wife, she relied on her instinct and taste to oversee the embassy's kitchen. These skills were tested. For ten years she cooked alone at Amrita, struggling to keep her family financially solvent.

In 1990 her daughter Nadsa became a naturalized American citizen, opening the way for Nyep and her husband to come to the United States. In 1992 Esquire Magazine named her new restaurant, The Elephant Walk, one of America's Best New Restaurants, calling the food "absolutely delicious and enlightening." She now has restaurants in Boston, Cambridge and Waltham.

de Monteiro is committed to preserving Cambodian culture. As part of this effort she wrote The Elephant Walk Cookbook, co-authored with Katherine Neustadt. In addition to recipes, the book details the history of Cambodian cuisine and culture. In 1999 it was named a Julia Child Cookbooks' Awards Finalist, International Category, in recognition of outstanding quality and creativity in cookbook writing and publishing. de Monteiro remains active in charity events promoting Cambodian issues.

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Dictionary
 
Coulis
1. noun A thick puree or sauce.
Gratin
1. noun Any dish covered with cheese or buttered breadcrumbs and baked or broiled.
Kaffir lime
1. noun A type of tree bearing dark green leaves used in cooking, and small, bright green, wrinkled-looking citrus fruit.
Lemongrass
1. noun A lemon-scented herb used liberally in Thai and Cambodian cooking.
Quinoa
1. noun These small, round, pale-brown grains look similar to millet and have a mild taste and a firm texture. Quinoa is considered a complete protein because it contains all eight essential amino acids.
Risotto
1. noun Italian dish made from rice cooked by intermittently adding small amounts of stock or broth. Other ingredients are added as required.
Shiitake
1. noun Bold and meaty, these are called "black mushrooms" on Chinese menus.
Timbale
1. noun A savory pie traditionally made of meats or vegetables and cooked in a drum-shaped mold called a timbale.
Tuk trey
1. noun A much-used (in Cambodia) Khmer marinade of fish sauce, vinegar, lime juice, sugar and garlic.