Tag: May Hong

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 the heart of Cafe Da Lat’s menu, but like every successful restaurateur, he understands that in order to grow business year-upon-year, the menu has to remain interesting. Though wholesale changes aren’t necessary, over the years he has continued to introduce amazing new items we now can’t live without.   Every year James travels to Little Saigon in Orange County, California where he takes the pulse of innovative new trends in Vietnamese cuisine.  When he discovers something he believes Duke City…