Let’s all take a moment and bow to Michael “Bao” Huynh. He’s one of the most entrepreneurial New York chefs/restaurateurs of the moment when it’s been hard for a lot of other places to even stay open. His latest project OBAO in Midtown East is now in soft opening mode. He’s already has his hands in BarBao, Baoguette, Pho Sure and Bia Garden.

This time Huynh is teaming up with owners Ace Watanasuparp and Chai Huadwattana (who just opened Spot Dessert Bar in the East Village with Pichet Ong). At OBAO, he’s bringing Vietnamese street food and other Asian cuisines (appetizers $7 to $14 and entrees $9 to $21). With chef de cuisine Todd Wann (mostly recently a sous chef at Tarralucci E Vino and a past alum of Tabla, Vong and Bright Food Shop), he’s developed a diverse menu that includes everything from crispy springs rolls filled with pork, shrimp and taro ($7) and the Vietnamese beef noodle soup pho ($9) to spicy lemongrass kalkbi short ribs ($17) and pad see iew ($10). At a recent preview event, we tasted a glistening fried pork belly dipped into a sweet-and-salty caramel sauce, a fragrant oxtail soup with a perfectly poached egg spiked with a touch of anise and thinly cut, slightly charred sirloin wrapped on sugarcane.

You can eat in the front room — which seats 25 — with its bamboo detailing and cream-colored walls and have a view of the open kitchen. The back room is darker with its slate floors, raw wood, antique mirrors and a long communal table running through the middle of the room. There’s also a covered garden seating 16 that’ll be open year round. Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. Delivery is expected to start in about two weeks. Huynh, who started off studying architecture, is certainly building an empire we all want to check out.

OBAO is located at 222 E. 53^rd St. (between 2^nd and 3^rd Avenues), www.obaonyc.com.

— Bao Ong