Gỏi is Vietnamese salad; of the many varieties, the most popular include:

And it's that kind of derring-do that's necessary to pull off a Vietnamese salad.

The kitchen whiffed once or twice, but it hit a half-dozen home runs, including delicious house-cured prosciutto, smoky sweetbreads, planked Atlantic salmon with ginger and an artful plate of contrasting tastes and textures: roasted scallops served with Burmese rice cakes and a tart Vietnamese salad with mint, basil and peppers.

There is a seaweed salad in sesame vinaigrette, and a Vietnamese salad with mango, jicama, crushed peanuts and cellophane noodles.

Equally refreshing was Vietnamese special salad - a mixture of julienned carrots and cucumbers, bean sprouts, small chunks of chicken breast, a few large shrimp and ground peanuts.

In Vietnam, the Vietnamese perilla are eaten raw or used in Vietnamese salads, soups or stir fried dishes.

RECOMMENDED DISHES - Raw bar, clam chowder, lobster bisque, Vietnamese salad with Maine shrimp, Jasper's pan roasted lobster, all wood-grilled seafood, fried calamari and fish.

We tried only one of the five Vietnamese salads, goi muc, pale rings of steamed calamari and chopped peanuts on a bed of shredded green papaya, yams and lettuce - a quiet, cooling dish.

Begin with a rousing Napa-cabbage-and-jicama-centered Vietnamese salad ($7) with enough jalapeño, peanut and cilantro kick to get your attention.

The Vietnamese salad was a wow, a refreshing alliance of jicama, shredded nappa or celery cabbage, carrots, mango, fresh cilantro, a slice of lime, and tangy tamarind peanut dressing.