Pho Ginger – Albuquerque, New Mexico
The Cultural Atlas reveals one aspect of Vietnamese life that is readily apparent to those among us well acquainted with Albuquerque’s Vietnamese restaurant families: “Family is the most important aspect of life in Vietnam. It is much more interdependent and tight-knit than what many Western cultures are familiar with. The cohesiveness and health of the family unit is often a main imperative. The “family unit” itself generally includes a larger nexus of relationships. Aunts, uncles, grandparents and other extended relatives often have very close relationships and provide a central support system.” During our time in the Land of Enchantment, we’ve seen just how interdependent and tight-knit Vietnamese families are. We’ve also experienced how warm and welcoming those families are. We consider James and Thu Nguyen at Cafe Dalat among our very favorite restaurateurs. Same with Vicki Truong at SaiGon. Sean and Kim, the genial proprietors of Saigon City, treat us like family. Visiting their restaurants is like going home and catching up with relatives we actually like–a lot! Aside from the obvious, one commonality among these three restaurants is that family either works in them or has their own restaurant in town. When we walked into Pho Ginger on Juan…
