The very first time I set foot inside a Vietnamese restaurant was back in late 2006. I went to visit one of my best friends who had found this restaurant along with her Vietnamese husband. They wanted me to taste the rich Vietnamese food that I have never tasted before. They wanted me to explore my culture and to be around other Vietnamese for a little while. I think the closest to ever interacting with any asians was going to a Chinese restaurant growing up as a kid.
Back then in 2006 it was a whole new world. The first time I tasted my very first bowl of Beef Pho was heavenly. And the people working there were very friendly. These were MY people that had traveled from my birth country to live a better life in America. They brought with them their recipes and their traditions. But as for me, it brought me closer to my Vietnamese culture in terms of good eats. I soaked up the food and the atmosphere around me as long as I could. And then we walked out of the restaurant and back into the world, where I was alone amongst a sea of people who didn’t resemble me.
Well, last week I returned to THE restaurant with my daughter. The food was so delicious. And our waiter (whom I thought was also the owner) was so very kind. I couldn’t help looking around and seeing the patrons. They were all Vietnamese and talking in Vietnamese and a few English phrases here and there. I felt like I was taken back in another place and time. You wouldn’t have thought you were in this restaurant in America. I could hear the clattering of spoons hitting the plates and bowls at a snails pace as patrons sipped their hot broths and drinking their cold iced drinks.
I was elated to be back in this place where I felt at home. I thought of my friends who brought me here two years prior. Oh how I longed for them to be here with me and catching up on old times. But they moved away a year ago from here. And so I had to find my way around the city to find this heaven on earth. And I’m very glad to have found it and to have shared it with my daughter. As we savored our shrimp, cellephane soup and spicy beef with noodles, for just a brief moment I felt like I fit in.
