Vietnamese cuisine

Dozens of chefs and restaurants are finalists for this year's prestigious James Beard Awards. Longtime family-owned Seattle pho shops were included as finalists.

Vien Dong's owners were a part of the wave of Vietnamese immigrants who settled in Washington. The iconic pho restaurant opened in Tacoma's Lincoln District in 1989.

Several blocks along Tacoma’s 38th Street will be shut down Jan. 28 as the Lincoln Business District celebrates the Lunar New Year. Local businesses owners are excited to celebrate the holiday but also their tight knit community.

Unlike Thanksgiving, when pie is a given in many households, desserts and confections celebrating the Lunar New Year are as varied as the Asian diasporas around the world that celebrate it. Families from China to the U.S. to Vietnam will mark the new year on Sunday. Seattle-based author Kat Lieu plans to celebrate with both customary sweets and new creations.

The beloved Asian grocer Viet-Wah closed its Seattle location on Friday, September 30. The store was opened by Duc Tran who came to Seattle as a refugee from Vietnam. His shop provided the local Asian community with a place where they could get ingredients hard to find anywhere else.

Pho has a rich role in Vietnamese, Vietnamese-American, and now, American culture. That's why a video featuring a white chef explaining how to eat pho as the next trendy food angered so many.