By DCist contributors Jenny Holm and Haley Slafer

The pair behind Proof and Estadio has another hit with Doi Moi, one of the newest and most exciting additions to the exploding 14th Street restaurant scene. Owner Mark Kuller and executive chef Haidar Karoum’s latest venture features Thai and Vietnamese small plates that entice diners to venture far beyond the familiar flavors of pho and pad thai.

The restaurant’s name means “renovation” or “new change” in Vietnamese, a fitting choice for both this rapidly evolving section of the city and the building itself. With its white and blond interior, light-filled façade, and geometric tile mosaics, the space feels cool and almost spa-like.

That breezy sensation lasts only until the food begins to arrive, at which point your reviewers couldn’t hold back and stuffed ourselves well beyond the point of satiety. The menu is divided into sections including starters, salads, skewers, soups, curries, noodles and rice, larger share plates, vegetables, and sweets. “Phet” denotes the dishes that have some kick to them, while “Phet Mak” marks the truly fiery ones that will leave you snot-nosed and crying (and begging for more). Three dishes per person, including dessert, should be plenty for the table to share. Each plate runs between $7 and $15. There are separate vegan and gluten-free menus available so you don’t have hunt for asterisks or pester the servers, who seem laid back but attentive.

The drink menu itself is enough to draw in the curious. It includes a surprisingly extensive wine list (for a Southeast Asian restaurant) featuring glasses and bottles hand-picked to pair well with spice. There are also a number of hard-to-find Asian and Hawaiian beers: the lemongrass saison was light and refreshing, if not particularly flavorful. All of the four cocktails on the menu appealed, but we sampled the tamarind soda and peanut-infused bourbon because it sounded the wackiest. It tasted just like it sounds, which is to say tart and nutty and something like a very refreshing PB&J.

Karoum weaves tart and herbal flavors with sweet and spicy notes in nuanced dishes that reward mindful eaters. We were particularly impressed with a vegetarian curry that combined creamy housemade tofu with earthy wild mushrooms, crispy lime leaves and enough whole green peppercorns to set our mouths aflame for several minutes afterwards.

We expected the grilled eggplant and poached shrimp salad to be smoky and a little charred, but at least one of us was pleasantly surprised when it came out tasting more like a ceviche, the soft flesh of the eggplant mimicking the creamy texture of a raw scallop or avocado. A deep, persistent heat gives the dish backbone, while lime juice and cilantro make it pop.

Three small Thai fish cakes come deep fried in a gingery breading with a potent sweet chili dipping sauce and a few crunchy pickle slices. We had heard a lot about the “phet mak” ground duck and duck liver laab salad from fellow chiliheads on Yelp, but we came away disappointed: the dish seemed blander and flatter than several others on our table, though we did like the crunch of what we think was toasted rice powder.

The visual stunner of the evening was a whole sea bream, fried to a golden crisp and served on a hummock of jasmine rice. Don’t discard the salty, crunchy skin—it’s the best part. The firm white flesh inside benefits from a healthy dunk in the brothy dipping sauce, which the menu says is ginger but whose primary flavor was more citrusy.

Don’t go skipping dessert either: you’ll be surprised you don’t see fresh corn on more dessert menus when you taste the sweet coconut tapioca “soup” (pudding, really). If you have been searching your whole life for a banana ice cream that doesn’t taste like a Circus Peanut, you need look no further.

If you’re in the mood for a nightcap, head around the corner to S Street NW and down the subtly marked stairs to Doi Moi’s sister establishment, 2 Birds, 1 Stone. You may feel like you’re stepping into an ice cave that Ikea outfitted for a bunch of hipster hunters, but just go with it. Bar director Adam Bernbach creates new signature cocktails (and tweets his hand-drawn menu) each week. (Food & Wine recently featured his technique for salt-curing the limes he uses in his takeoff on a gimlet. The process takes 3 months.)

While they’re not for the finicky, the spice-wary, or the budget-conscious diner, Doi Moi and 2 Birds bring a welcome influx of daring new flavors to the 14th Street strip. We wager they’ll be staples for some time to come.