CAFE DA LAT – Albuquerque, New Mexico
While the term “Vietnamese cuisine” is broad and overarching, any attempt to pigeonhole this very diverse and eclectic culinary culture is a failure to consider its complexities and nuances. Even when culinary taxonomists compartmentalize Vietnamese cuisine regionally into “Northern,” “Southern” or “Central,” these wide-ranging generalizations fail to take into account the variations–often influenced by socioeconomic factors–that occur not only between villages, but often within small neighborhoods. James Nguyen, proprietor of Albuquerque’s Cafe Da Lat is very cognizant of those variations. That’s why he takes it in stride when a compatriot visiting his restaurant contends “this isn’t like the Vietnamese food I grew up eating.” Obviously, he says, they didn’t grow up with his mother’s cooking. His mother’s recipes are at…