Ohana To Ohana
07.12.07 - 11:59pm
Since my cousin is visiting from Hong Kong, I decided to organize a big family dinner for yesterday, plus it had been a long time since my family got together for dinner. One of my memories from my childhood is gathering at Anh Hong, a Vietnamese Family Restaurant, for seven courses of beef. We would sit at a huge long table and have all the dishes laid out and I remember constant buzzing conversation. I always ordered a Sua Dau Nanh (cold soy bean drink), though every now and then I would order the three colored drink which is also sort of a dessert.
A few years ago, some of my friends were trying to decide on where to eat dinner on the way back from a road trip and were raving (and craving) about going to Le Cheval. I had heard of the name before, but I really had no idea what Le Cheval was all about. When I got there, I realized it was a Vietnamese restaurant and when saw the seven courses of beef, I was excited. Not every Vietnamese restaurant serves seven courses of beef. I was skeptical though. The place seemed overpriced and as I guided my friends who were adventurous enough to try the seven courses with me, I thought of Anh Hong.
After that experience, I came up with the term “glorified Vietnamese food” because I preferred dining at Anh Hong (in the Tenderloin) over Le Cheval because Le Cheval has similar dishes and not necessarily as good, but more expensive. Also in the glorified Vietnamese food category is Le Colonial. I mentioned to some of my friends that I would take them to an authentic Vietnamese restaurant some day, none of that fluff.
Last year or so I took some of them to Anh Hong and they’ve loved it ever since. It requires somewhat of a tutorial about how to eat the dishes, but after that, they’ve been going back (one went back the same week and took another friend with them). When my parents learned that I had introduced my friends to seven courses of beef and Vietnamese food in general (like Vietnamese sandwiches from Irving Cafe & Deli), they were surprised and even more surprised that my friends like it. For me, I felt like I was sharing a part of my family with my friends and a part of the Vietnamese culture with which my parents had grew up and shared with me.
Two of my cousins who were invited to the dinner this week had mentioned they had never been to the restaurant before. I didn’t believe them and thought it was so far back they couldn’t remember. When I sat down at the dinner table near another cousin, she also mentioned that she had never had the seven courses of beef meal before either. I was very surprised. How could that be?
Where were all these memories coming from? Who was I eating with? I could’ve sworn these cousins were there, but turns out they weren’t.
At the beginning of the dinner, I had sneakily gone up to the register. Unlike the older adults in the family, I am not skilled enough to win a fight for the bill, the ones that frequently cause a enormous scenes at the restaurant. So I decided to head them off at the pass. The guy saw I had a credit card in my hand and immediately guessed, “You want to pay for dinner?”
My cousins thanked me for sharing this new experience with them. It was an unexpected effect, but I’m glad we were able to gather together, enjoy a meal, and share with family.
I also thought more of my father yesterday. Although he’s no longer around to pick the portions and extra dishes for the meal (he was always the appointed one to do that for family dinners), my mom and I were able to do it from watching him all these years. I was thankful that he shared this experience with me so that I could share it with my cousins and pass on the experience.
The Photos.
P.S. Experimenting with slide.com to display a set of photos.
I looove 7 courses of beef!! Although it’s nothing compared to kobe beef at Japanese bbq’s.. there’ still something oddly appealing about it..
Meat! Mmmmm….