The owner of North, a Vietnamese restaurant in downtown Los Gatos, is creating a new concept to capitalize on what she calls the “pho cult.”

Hanna Pham’s new Hanna Asian Noodle Bar in the former Viva-A-Go-Go spot on Los Gatos Boulevard is designed to cater to those who love their ramen. The eatery’s opening was delayed by a faulty fire alarm; Pham hopes to be in business by the middle of May.

“We will allow customers to create their own bowl, picking their broth, noodle type, protein, spice and flavor,” Pham says. “They can be as creative as they want.”

She also plans to offer spring rolls, pad Thai, salads, grilled meats, and perhaps eventually Korean tacos and an ahi poke bowl. But initially, the focus will be pho.

Pham says some of her customers really missed the classic pho for which Hanna Bistro was famous when she reinvented her restaurant on Santa Cruz Avenue as North. Although pho appears on North’s lunch menu, it’s not a dinner option.

“We built a real pho cult following with Hanna Bistro,” Pham says. “We hope to bring those customers back.”

Pham expects an expanded patio parklet will be built in the next 30 days to accommodate 24 outdoor diners the noodle bar, which will share the parklet neighboring Shepherd & Sims.

“I’m hoping we can keep it for at least two years,” she says.

A small inside seating bar will also be available, but Pham expects the majority of orders to be placed to go.

“I think the idea of grab-and-go fits right into the COVID era,” she says. “I feel very positive about this concept.”

Shepherd & Sims

Next-door to the noodle bar, restaurateur Jim Stump hopes to get his next Los Gatos venture up and running by mid-June. He’s got most of the management talent in place, including his children.

“There’s no nepotism here,” Stump says. “I assure you, they work harder than everyone else, because they grew up working for me.”

Stump is lucky to be able to rely on his children, as the pandemic has forced restaurant workers to find jobs in other sectors.

“A lot of longtime employees have left the industry entirely,” Stump says, “and they’re not coming back. We’re recruiting high school students again and teaching them Restaurant 101, Food 101, Wine 101. These kids don’t even know what some of the ingredients are that we’re using.”

Stump, who still runs The Table in Willow Glen and The Vesper in Campbell, says Shepherd & Sims will be “more casual and less pricey” than AP Stump’s, his former restaurant in downtown San Jose. He wants his new venture to be “the kind of place with a varied enough menu and comfortable atmosphere that you want to come here three nights a week, and then come back for those special occasions, too.”

He plans to be open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and brunch on the weekends.

Breakfast items will include classic eggs Benedicts, waffles, pancakes and in-house baked pastries and muffins, and lunches will cater to the ladies who love their salads and the guys who want their burgers, fries and sandwiches. Brunch will include chicken and waffles and chicken fried steak.

His happy hour will be 2-5 p.m. daily. Stump’s daughter, Janon, will be managing the wine list, which he hopes to keep semi-local.

Dinner fare will rely heavily on a variety of appetizers, fresh-caught fish and meat from longtime favorite purveyors like Superior Lamb out of Davis. He promises the pasta section will be plentiful.

“I’d rather have two apps than one big entrée,” Stump says. “I tend to order too much because I want to try everything. We used to call it ‘grazing’ 20 years ago.”

Heropoulos’ next venture

While its opening is planned for more than a year down the road, Angelo Heropoulos—whose other ventures include Opa! in Willow Glen and Campbell, Willard Hicks in Campbell and Morgan Hill, and Hero Ranch Kitchen in Saratoga—is set to unveil a new eating and drinking establishment in the former location of Williams Sonoma on North Santa Cruz Avenue in June 2022.

San Francisco architecture firm Arcanum is designing the concept, which will feature a rooftop bar with infrastructure built in for heating and cooling.

“There will be over 200 seats outdoors between the rooftop, the patio out back and the parklet on Gray’s Lane,” Heropoulos says. “Inside, there will be seating for 100, and it won’t be cramped or packed.”

Parking, though, might be another matter.