Repotting: November

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Mai Pham: From Capitol Scribe to Culinary Marvel

By Michael J. Fitzgerald
The Lemon Grass Restaurant on Munroe Street near busy Fair Oaks Boulevard sits behind a tall wall and even taller bamboo, shielding diners from traffic noise. It helps them transition from the often-hectic Sacramento city pace to a tranquil, soft-lit environment where Southeast Asian food —Thai and Vietnamese dishes — draws rave reviews from food critics and patrons.
    The menu features intriguing dishes with curious names such as Ten Tigers (Thai tiger prawns marinated in lemongrass, garlic and chilies, then skewered and grilled), Trout Sot Ngon (boneless salmon trout, pan-seared and topped with fresh tomatoes, Vietnamese sweet-and-sour sauce and pan-roasted shallots) and Bangkok Beef (beef sirloin, broccoli flowers, onions and tomatoes stir-fried with garlic, Thai basil and chilies). The restaurant’s ambiance, menu and recipes are all part of a culinary jewel created by owner Mai Pham.
    Today a nationally noted restaurateur and author, Pham once wanted to be a journalist like Connie Chung, something she pursued aggressively after arriving from her native Vietnam in 1975. In 1983, at the age of 19, she earned her bachelors degree in journalism from University of Maryland (Chung’s alma mater).
She came to Sacramento in the early 1980s having landed a plum TV-reporting job at KXTV – after turning down an offer to be an anchor in Denver.
   “Too cold,” she says.
    After becoming a respected television journalist for five years, she moved on to become the first Vietnamese-American speechwriter for a California governor (George Deukmejian). But at the peak of those successes in 1989, she jumped the rails of media and politics and went into the restaurant business, opening Lemon Grass, a Sacramento Valley culinary landmark that pulls diners from a wide radius of northern and central California, including San Francisco.
    Today Pham has a successful restaurant, a newspaper column about cooking and two books to her credit. She retains business and culinary interests in the La Bou eateries (which she co-owns with her ex-husband Trong Nguyen).
Continued...

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