COMMUNITY & CULTURE
THE MELTING POT
Thuy Nguyen
By Trish Muyco-Tobin
It ’ s a time of transition for Thuy Nguyen . After a 15-year career in high-level sales , she recently decided it was time for a change .
“ I ’ m not sure what Chapter 2 holds , but I want it to be related to charity work ,” she declared . “ I have always felt that you shouldn ’ t take more than you give .”
One might say benevolence is something Nguyen picked up early on - when she herself depended on the kindness of strangers .
“ I was 4 when my family came here from Vietnam ,” she recalled . “ I really didn ’ t know what was going on . I just remember a whole bunch of people coming to get us out .”
Nguyen and her family - her parents and three younger siblings - came to the U . S . as refugees in 1979 . They were sponsored by a church in Hudsonville , Michigan , as part of a larger effort to support Vietnamese refugees . She doesn ’ t recall much about those early days , save for a few details .
“ It was around Halloween ; they dressed us up in onesies , and we had masks . Things were different … the food , the house , the people looked different , they sounded different … these are pockets of memories that I have , and it was all very exciting to me ,” she said . “ I also remember kindness from everybody around me .”
These acts of kindness from the church sponsors included providing transportation , helping the adults get jobs , and taking the family grocery shopping to stores that sold Asian ingredients .
After a couple of years , the family moved to Houston , where Nguyen ’ s grandmother had reconnected with friends .
“ In school , I learned very quickly that I had to acclimate . I had to learn the language ,” she said . “ All kids want to be the same . I wanted to be just like my friends - look like them , talk like them , dress like them - I learned to emulate .”
But no matter how hard she tried to fit in , Nguyen said there were constant reminders that she was different .
“ It wasn ’ t until about third grade that I realized what all the snickering and hair-pulling meant ,” she said . “ As kids get older and have more command of the language , they start saying more cruel things - and the words that came with the actions hurt .”
“ I like to hear the stories of what happened before I came along ... you need to be rooted in story .”
The family moved to St . Louis when Nguyen was in her early teens .
“ The Vietnamese community in St . Louis is definitely smaller ( than Houston ). It seems everybody knows each other from some connection , somehow ,” she explained . “ I notice that people here just bear down on their work , whether it is working at a restaurant , at a nail shop , or being a student - they just do their own thing .”
And Nguyen was “ doing her own thing ” on a date at a Vietnamese restaurant when one of the servers came over to introduce himself .
“ He wasn ’ t our waiter , but he asked how dinner was going , and we discovered that he knew my brother and cousins .” she recalled .
The young man turned out to be her soon-to-be husband , Qui Tran , whose family established Mai Lee as the first Vietnamese restaurant in St . Louis . And it wasn ’ t long after that meeting when he called Nguyen at home to ask her out on a date . She was a little skeptical at first .
“ I thought , ‘ He can ’ t be that bad .’ But I had kissed a whole bunch of frogs ,” she said . “ I had this pre-conceived notion he may be too ‘ Americanized ,’ that he wouldn ’ t have the same values , or maybe he was way too deeply rooted in his own culture that he couldn ’ t see progress and appreciate a strong-willed American woman - me .”
At the time , Tran ’ s family was beginning to establish itself as formidable restaurateurs on the St . Louis dining scene , with Mai Lee expanding to a bigger location , and Tran poised to become more involved at the helm , alongside his mother .
“ It was his idea to expand and move , so he had to step up ,” Nguyen said . “ I ’ m pretty proud to be a part of what Qui and his mom created . I don ’ t do much except eat and support .”
Her husband would disagree , saying that his wife has the “ best business mind around .” He also credits her for introducing him to his first bowl of ramen , from which the concept of his new restaurant sprung : Qui Tran ' s highly successful second venture , Nudo House STL , opened in 2017 .
Nguyen beams with pride when she talks about her husband ’ s “ celebrity ” status in St . Louis and beyond .
He was recently featured in Food & Wine magazine , with Nudo ’ s Beef Pho on the cover .
82 GAZELLE