In New York, Vietnamese cuisine has started quite favorably. In 1961, the first restaurant serving Vietnamese food opened in the Morningside Heights area in Manhattan.
However, in the 1970s-1980s, the wave of Vietnamese people coming to the US moved to settle in other areas such as Orange County, California, or Houston. These places are gradually appearing with many Hue beef noodle soup, banh xeo...
In the Lower East Side, Ha's snack Bar sells new Vietnamese dishes such as green chili stir-fried oysters, steamed snails with tamarind butter, pate so... The owner and chef are Anthony Ha (33 years old, Vietnamese origin) and Sadie Mae Burn (30 years old). The new restaurant opened in December. In 2024, Ha and Burn plan to expand with Bistro Ha located nearby later this year.
Ha's snack Bar became famous last spring when the restaurant appeared in a series of newspapers, especially when there was a credit in the culinary criticism section of New York Magazine.
In the same area, some Vietnamese restaurants that have previously caused a stir in "Vietnamese cuisine" in Manhattan, New York are the Street food fish restaurant owned by Nhung Dao (36 years old, Vietnamese) and Jerald Head (32). Sen Saigon vegetarian restaurant is managed by chef An Nguyen Hawks (35 years old) and her husband Erik Dornbush Hawks (32 years old).
According to the Financial Times, currently, a new wave of restaurants and rustic eateries exploiting the creativity of Vietnamese cuisine is attracting the imagination and attention of New Yorkers as well as public opinion on social networks.
The fish sauce restaurant on the outskirts of Chinatown is specially designed to serve vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste. This classic dish of Hanoi street food is served with dipping sauce with rich flavor and aroma.
The chef and owner of the fish sauce restaurant, Jerald Head, shared: "Shuge tofu and shrimp paste noodles is like a new color, full of color. Before that, I only knew about Vietnamese cuisine with pho and bread, but when I learned about bun dau and shrimp paste, I had to exclaim "Oh my god, so different". I was completely defeated."
Initially, selling vermicelli with shrimp paste and the experience of sitting at plastic tables and chairs on the sidewalk, the fish sauce restaurant attracted many diners to line up to eat from the first day.
After the success of the fish sauce restaurant, Nhung Dao and Jerald Head opened another Lai Rai beverage shop. In the near future, they are preparing to open a third restaurant with a coffee and bread selling model.
Meanwhile, chefs Nhu Ton (34) and John Nguyen (43) co-own two restaurants in New York. The latest is the Anh Em Banh restaurant that just opened at Union Square in early 2025.
According to Mr. John, they baked bread on the spot and served my husband's wet cakes as a request "as a way to honor delicious dishes from home, dishes that have to be cooked take a lot of effort".
The rich menu of Anh Em bread restaurant includes very meticulously processed versions of Vietnamese dishes from north to south. For example, Nam Dinh pho is cooked according to the local way of processing beef pieces, fresh pho noodles and ginger-scented pho broth.
According to the New York Times, a younger generation of chefs are introducing Vietnamese diverse cuisine to international diners, especially those in New York, the world's largest city.
Other young chefs such as Phoebe Tran (32 years old), owner of Be repost restaurant, often organize classes, culinary programs and meals inspired by Vietnamese herbs.
Thu Pham Buser (33 years old) is both a chef and a culinary model, organizing a series of mobile parties "An Co" to bring to diners in a way to explore Vietnamese cuisine in a very diverse region.
Trisha Do (27 years old) and Gui Trang Nguyen (34 years old) live in New York but organize many mobile meals in Amsterdam, Paris and Toronto. They often go to Ho Chi Minh City to find culinary inspiration. For Trisha Do, the explosion of Vietnamese cuisine in Manhattan is understandable, due to the problem of immigration.
"Our grandparents and parents went through wartime, struggling with difficult lives when they first moved. Today, their children and grandchildren, we not only have to focus on making a living, but can also pursue creativity and trade in places we love. It takes a whole generation to make this change," Do shared.
