Photos and interview by Stacie Joy
Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen recently debuted at 85 Second Ave. at Fifth Street, bringing owner Carol Nguyen's Dallas restaurant to the East Village — though opening a second location wasn't initially part of the plan.
Nguyen's daughter moved to New York from Texas three years ago.
After learning last year that her daughter had a serious health condition, Nguyen decided she wanted to be closer to her and, with that, open a second restaurant.
She began making frequent trips from Texas, walking the city to find a location before settling on the bi-level Second Avenue space.
The restaurant is also a family story that stretches across generations. Ngon — Vietnamese for "delicious" — is named for Nguyen's mother, Ngộn, while the recipes and flavors draw on memories of cooking passed down from her grandmother and mother. The Dallas restaurant was created as a tribute to them; Nguyen describes the colorful East Village outpost as a present for her daughter.
Inside, plants and flowers fill the two levels alongside large-scale illuminated scenes of Vietnam, including one featuring Nguyen and her brother.
Manager Minh Nguyen — no relation — created the chalk artwork throughout the restaurant. He has worked with Carol for 10 years.
We recently talked with Carol and Minh about moving to New York, learning the East Village, preserving Vietnamese names and language on the menu, and why Carol would rather cook from memory than change a family recipe to meet expectations.
You've built Ngon in Dallas, but this New York location has a very personal connection — your daughter. What made this the right time to bring Ngon to NYC, and why did you choose the East Village?
Carol: To be honest, I didn't know anything about New York before I decided to open the restaurant here. No experience. I’ve been here over 10 times, but for traveling only. Shopping, eating, that’s it.
My daughter moved here from Texas three years ago. Last year, we found out that she had a serious health condition. That makes me want to be with her. So, we decided to open the restaurant without knowing anything.
And your question is why I chose East Village, right? Because I walked around when we decided to open the restaurant, in April last year. From April to September, I traveled from Texas to New York over 15 times. I walked every day. I walked to find out where I could open the restaurant. I walked to find out where I could get supplies, everything.
Because, like I said, I don't know anything about New York. New York is too new for me, too difficult for me, and too large for me.
But because of my daughter, we decided to open the restaurant here. And hopefully, I am doing the right thing. She’s good now; she's better now. She's free from her health condition. She can even join the [New York City] marathon on November 1. So that's very good news!
That's a major accomplishment.
Carol: Thank you. Makes me feel like…Okay, I put a lot of effort here. I put my love here. I put my hard work in here. A lot of that is new. And she sent me some very good news.
Minh, had you been to the East Village before?
Minh: No, I'm actually very new to the area too. And it was very surprising to see that the area is so diverse, being near NYU and with so many other Vietnamese restaurants around.
Have you been to other Vietnamese restaurants in the neighborhood?
Minh: Yes.
Carol: We support almost every Vietnamese restaurant around here.
Do you have a favorite?
Carol: Yes,
Mộc Mạc [several storefronts away at 79 Second Ave.].
For people who know Ngon in Dallas, what will feel familiar here, and what will be different about the East Village restaurant — from the menu and space to the overall experience?
Carol: The Ngon in Dallas is a present for my grandma and my mom. So it will be classic, all black and white. And this one is a present for my daughter, new generation — colorful!
Are there menu differences?
Carol: Mostly the same, but some of the new items here, because my daughter, she likes that. Anything that she wants, I put on the menu.
What did she ask for?
Carol: She asked for sữa chua, nếp cẩm…Vietnamese yogurt.
Minh: It's like a Vietnamese-style yogurt with sticky rice at the bottom.
Carol: It’s called Dragon Blood sticky rice. We are still adding items to the menu now, while we’re still slow, so I don't want to put too much on there. But lately, we are picking up, so I will add more.
We are serving a [traditional Northern Vietnamese dish with cold rice vermicelli, herbs, and a grilled protein] bún chả, with chả lá xương sộng, a spine leaf wrap we grow right here. No one else has this; we brought it to serve here.
Would you say that there are differences here in what people eat versus what they're eating in Texas?
Minh: I would say like the people here like a little bit more savory in terms of flavor. And then with New York, we were afraid to put certain dishes or items on our menu. Like traditionally, there's pork knuckles or pork-cake blood cubes in the food.
But New York people have given us a lot of good feedback, saying they're very adventurous in terms of cuisine and willing to try our traditional dishes. So we've tried that out too, adding it to our bún riêu or bún bò huế, and they're not scared to eat certain things if they’re not familiar, because they like trying a lot of new things.
Let's talk about the name. How do you pronounce "Ngon," and what does it mean?
Carol: For American people, it’s very hard to pronounce. But because Ngộn is my mom's name, I want people to learn how to spell her name. It's very selfish.
Ngon has two meanings. First, my name, my mom's name Ngộn, and the second, ngon, is "delicious" in Vietnamese.
Minh: If it helps, if you say the NG, like at the end of the word "doing," it will help you. The NG at the end plus "on."
Carol: A lot of Vietnamese restaurants choose to use English versions for the menu. But for me, I respect my mother tongue. So I put the name of our food in Vietnamese. If customers have any questions, we can explain it to them. All our servers and kitchen staff have learned how to pronounce the Vietnamese dishes. That makes me proud.
Ngộn is your mother's name, and you've described the food as rooted in her recipes and your own care as a mother ...
Carol: The food recipe is from my grandma and my mom. Not just my mom's, from my grandma.
What dishes best tell that family story? And what do you hope New Yorkers will take away from eating here?
Carol: Phở and bún chả Hà Nội. Phở is a very popular Vietnamese food. Every Vietnamese restaurant serves that. And we have two different types of phở, from the northern and southern parts of the country. My family is from North Vietnam, but I was raised in Saigon.
The way I cook isn't 100% north or south; it’s guided by my memory of my grandma and the taste I was raised with. If people travel to Hà Nội right now, I have to be honest: the taste of Hà Nội food, like Hà Nội phở and our Hà Nội phở, will be slightly different.
If you come to Ngon, you shouldn't expect to have a bowl of phở exactly like in Hà Nội now, because Hà Nội 50 years ago is different from what it is today. So if you expect a bowl of phở exactly like in Hà Nội now, I don't think you will be happy.
I have to be honest, because I cook by my heart, by my love, and by my memory. I have my own family recipe, and I put that first.
A little bit stubborn for me; most chefs out there will cook what the customer wants, right? But me? I opened the restaurant because I miss my grandma, and I love my mom.
So I cook the way I learned from them. I opened a location here because I love my daughter. I put a lot of personal meaning into this restaurant.
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