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'Quynh' Now Serving Fresh Vietnamese Eats in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens

 Quynh at Erv's on Beekman in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens serves Vietnamese rice noodle dishes and summer rolls.
Quynh at Erv's on Beekman in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens serves Vietnamese rice noodle dishes and summer rolls.
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Courtsey of Quentin Regos

PROSPECT-LEFFERTS GARDENS — It’s the summer of summer rolls on Beekman Place.

Fresh Vietnamese food is on the menu at Quynh, a new restaurant inside the newly renovated Erv’s on Beekman, that brings chef Fred Hua’s dishes to the new eatery and bar.

Hua — whose previous Williamsburg eatery Nha Toi garnered him “a nice little cult following,” as he told DNAinfo New York — aims to bring the casualness of Vietnamese street food to the new spot, which opened with a partial menu on July 21.

“Street food is the best food … because you can grab it any time of the day and it’s quick, fast — and it’s a very direct relationship between the cook and the customer,” he said.

From a small galley kitchen tucked into a corner at Erv’s, Hua creates made-to-order summer rolls and rice noodle dishes, which change a little bit every day, he said, combining fresh and pickled vegetables and a rotating list of proteins; recent options include cured salmon, braised pork and fried tofu.

Hua says summer rolls are usually made beforehand at many restaurants, but at Quynh, every dish will be be constructed by hand as it’s ordered.

“it just feels fresher when it’s made-to-order,” he said.

Fred Hua preps the kitchen at his new eatery Quynh, named for his daughter, located inside Erv's on Beekman in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. (DNAinfo/Rachel Holliday Smith)

Quynh is open for dinner only at the moment, but will expand to lunch and possibly breakfast soon, Hua said.

He plans to eventually serve Vietnamese crepes and expand a menu of “anh choi” dishes — translated loosely to “food that is made for drinking,” he said — that now includes a curried pickled egg with Caribbean-inspired flavors and a savory shrimp paste toast with butter, Thai basil and fresh scallion.

This is the third eatery for Hua (he’s also a co-owner and chef at Nha Minh in Williamsburg), a native of San Jose, California who first learned how to cook from his large family, where everyone was involved with making a meal.

“Everyone in the family thinks they’re a chef,” he said, laughing. “We’re very competitive.”

Quynh is open from 6 to 11 p.m. every day at Erv’s on Beekman, located at 2122 Beekman Pl. off Flatbush Avenue in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens.