COMMUNITY & CULTURE
“He’s being recognized here, at the airport. We just did a pho master
class in Napa Valley. We were in Napa! And these people chose to come
to learn about pho. And that cover (in Food & Wine) that says, ‘Comfort
Food’ on it with the pho? In America? It makes me proud. We’re not so
different, after all. It puts the cherry on the top of my journey.”
Nguyen may be modest about the role she’s played in her husband’s
success in the restaurant business, but she’s convinced she’s better than
he is in the kitchen - and more well-rounded.
“I really like food, I’ve learned how to make all kinds of different food
- and I can bake!” she said.
In fact, Nguyen excels at baking so much that she took charge of an
“Epic Bake Sale” in 2015 to benefit Siteman Cancer Center.
“Cancer has ravaged my family - my brother, grandfather, cousin,
uncle, both of Qui’s grandparents … it seems it’s someone in our family
every two years,” she said.
And Nguyen plans on taking her entrepreneurial and business savvy
to new heights with new opportunities. One of her current projects is
the Love Run 5K on Sunday, May 20, in Kirkwood City Park. Proceeds
from the event benefit the Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation and the
Children’s Heart Foundation.
“I like to do 5Ks. I started running after my brother passed away. He
was going to beat cancer, and he was going to run a marathon after he
did,” Nguyen said. “So after he passed away, I ran the marathon.”
And while she related that difficult time in her life with a touch of
sadness, Nguyen knows that she and her siblings have been fortunate,
for they grew up together living the American dream.
“I like to hear the stories of what happened before I came along.
My grandmother lived through the French occupation, the Japanese
occupation, the Chinese migration, through multiple conflicts and
wars ... ,” she said. “From what I understand, my grandparents had a
pretty decent life in the midst of all that. They were very resourceful;
my grandfather made shoes out of old tires, my grandmother and her
mother sold fabric on their bikes. They had a general store that sold
knickknacks, and my parents helped them run an optical store. When
the Communists took over, all of that was taken away from them.”
Nguyen said knowing the stories of her past is key to her present -
and future.
“You need to be rooted in story,” she added. “The journey that
brought me here as a child is a story that isn’t mine to tell, but the story
I live in the United States as an immigrant is my own - and the two must
exist together.”
SAVVY I SOPHISTICATED I SASSY
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