Banh mi and blackjack: Live! Casino wants to attract foodies, not just gamblers

Past the rows and rows of slots, past the easy craps and the crapless craps, and past the Damien Hirst piece by the men’s room is Maryland’s newest Vietnamese restaurant.

Truong Tien, which opened in late May inside Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland, is an offshoot of a northern Virginia original that’s been named one of Washingtonian magazine’s 100 best restaurants.

Gone are the days of the all-you-can-eat buffet at the betting house: Las Vegas casinos now host some of the country’s most acclaimed eateries — and Maryland is getting in on the action. Live! guests taking a break from blackjack can sample bun cha oc (vermicelli noodles and snails) as well as more familiar items like banh mi sandwiches served on fresh baguettes.

According to a biography printed on the menu, restaurant founder Thanh Huong Thi Truong’s dishes originated in imperial Vietnam. Her ancestors had ties to the royal court and replicated those meals at home.

The restaurant — like most others inside Live! — is owned and operated by the casino through a licensing agreement.

At a time when many of Maryland’s casinos are seeing declining revenues, Live!’s owners, the Cordish Cos., hope the restaurant in the former Morty’s Deli spot will both appeal to their changing customer base and attract new audiences, whether they gamble or not.

“We want to become more than just a place to gamble,” said Renee Mutchnik, vice president of communications for the Hanover casino. In its nearby auditorium, the venue hosts comedians and musicians as well as local Anne Arundel County high school commencements. There’s also a 300-room hotel. (Cordish also owns the building where The Banner’s newsroom is located.)

The 14-year-old casino is getting a refresh of all its other dining spaces, too, said Rob Esplen, senior vice president of food and beverage for the casino. A nearby branch of the Prime Rib steakhouse will be renovated in the coming years, though the restaurant’s branding won’t change. The casino is also home to one of the area’s remaining Cheesecake Factory locations, though it does not run that restaurant.

The decision to launch a branch of Truong Tien, which is based in Falls Church’s Eden Center, stemmed from a desire “to bring the authentic Vietnamese culture and food and a taste of that to our players as well as our customers here in Baltimore,” said Dorothy Celli-Marshall, director of marketing at Cordish.

With vintage-style signs and wooden beams overhead, the restaurant’s decor is meant to conjure the Truong Tien Bridge in Vietnam, which Esplen said is a gathering place for people within central Vietnam. A faint smell of secondhand smoke comes from the neighboring cigar lounge, where guests can puff as they play slots.

Though she’s not involved in day-to-day operations, Truong, or “Ms. T,” played an integral role in getting the new restaurant up and running, Esplen said, sharing not only her expertise but also a collection of tea kettles for decor. Customers are served a complimentary taste of tea as soon as they walk in the door.

Overseeing all the casino-owned restaurants is chef Phillip Stephenson, who joined Live! recently after spending years working in Las Vegas resorts. “I feel like I’m right at home here,” Stephenson said of his new gig in suburban Maryland. While he has years of experience in the industry, central Vietnamese cuisine is a new adventure for him, and he was struck by the subtlety of the seasoning. “They’re very delicate flavors,” he said. “Just hints of this, hints of that.”

During a tour of the restaurant, Esplen invited me to sample a few items from the menu, including the handheld banh mi. It was one of the best versions of the sandwich I’ve tried recently, with tender, tangy-sweet beef on pillowy bread. Such nuanced flavors may make diners feel they’ve hit a culinary jackpot.