
CAFE DALAT – Albuquerque, New Mexico
While the term “Vietnamese cuisine” is broad and overarching, any attempt to pigeonhole this very diverse and eclectic culinary culture …
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While the term “Vietnamese cuisine” is broad and overarching, any attempt to pigeonhole this very diverse and eclectic culinary culture …
Read MoreJim Millington, a long-time friend of this blog, contends that “there must be a bad Vietnamese restaurant somewhere on this …
Read MoreSeveral years ago and much to the surprise of the proprietor, I ordered a durian shake at a Vietnamese restaurant. …
Read MoreIt should have been a point-counterpoint debate for the ages. My ideologically opposed and perpetually squabbling friends Carlos and Hien …
Read More“Nom nom.” It sounds innocent enough. Parents–yes, including parents of four-legged fur babies–utter it in baby talk intonations to get …
Read MoreYou always remember your first time…and if it’s good, it may set the standard by which you’ll forever measure every …
Read More“”Vietnam. It grabs you and doesn’t let you go. Once you love it, you love it forever.” ~ Anthony Bourdain …
Read MoreJP, my former boss at Intel prides himself on consistently working “half days.” If you’re thinking you’d like a job …
Read More“I’m not allowed in the Vietnamese sandwich shop anymore. They decided to banh mi for life.” During an ice-breaker at …
Read More“Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed Popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far …
Read More“The banh mi sandwich is really the only good argument for colonialism.” ~Calvin Trillin By most historical standards, the banh …
Read MoreThere are perhaps thousands of examples throughout the Duke City of immigrants whose path to the American dream involved rising …
Read MorePlease say it isn’t so! According to Nations Restaurant News, a highly respected trade publication “a new crop of restaurant …
Read MoreIn the year 2000 (ancient history by restaurant standards) when the Duke City had only a handful of Vietnamese restaurants, …
Read MoreIf Chinese superstitions have any credence, some of us may not be long for this world. Chinese superstitions posit that …
Read MoreKevin: What am I looking at here? Donna: It’s pho. Kevin: It’s what? Donna: Pho. Kevin: Well pho looks like …
Read MoreIn some metropolitan areas, legions of restaurant bloggers dissect and report on every facet of the area’s dining scene. These …
Read MoreCelebrity chef and professional cynic Anthony Bourdain, one of the more vocal detractors of the vegetarian lifestyle, contends “Vegetarians are …
Read MoreIn Chinese and Vietnamese cultures, numerology is very important. If you’ve traveled extensively, you may have wondered why the term …
Read More“Wisdom oft comes from the mouth of babes.” ~George R.R. Martin After far too many meals at restaurants in which …
Read MoreWhen the temperature dips and the Land of Enchantment’s ubiquitous winds howl with a vengeance, savvy diners revel in the …
Read MoreIn a 2009 movie entitled Ramen Girl, Abby, a wayward American girl unacculturated to life in Tokyo witnesses the radiant …
Read More“When helicopters were snatching people from the grounds of the American embassy compound during the panic of the final Vietcong …
Read MoreOn April 3, 2013, University of New Mexico (UNM) Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs sent out a very simple …
Read MoreThough it ended in 1975, the Vietnam war was still very fresh in the minds of Americans when I enlisted …
Read MoreIf ever there was a culinary Kobayashi Maru (for the non-Trekkies among you, that’s a no-win scenario), it might well …
Read MoreJERRY: By the way Newman, I’m just curious. When you booked the hotel, did you book it for the millennium …
Read More“In food, as in death, we feel the essential brotherhood of man” – Vietnamese Proverb Western sensitivities cause even those …
Read MoreAccording to some stereotypes, when you eat Chinese food, you’ll be hungry an hour later. The “Chinese food paradox” …
Read MoreGrowing up on a relatively unsophisticated Northern New Mexican diet featuring such staples as beans, tortillas and chile could hardly …
Read MoreIn late 2002, long-time proprietor and friend James Nguyen sold May Hong. Fortunately he kept this wonderful jewel in the …
Read MoreWhen it closed on Broadway in 2001, the three-time Tony Award-winning musical Miss Saigon had been seen by some six …
Read MoreIn Vietnamese, “an com”‘ translates as “eating rice,” but it’s a phrase that more accurately implies the act of partaking …
Read More“Grrr! What’s wrong with those Vietnamese?” That’s not a bad bowl of pho prompting a xenophobic rant on my part. …
Read MoreBreaking a paradigm. That’s a modern corporate buzz phrase that essentially means approaching a situation or routine from a different …
Read MoreBeef. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and …
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