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John Dang in Saigon Bistro.
Posted: September 30th, 2010 Greg Lacour
PHOTOS BY JAMES WILLAMOR
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John Dang got into the restaurant business at an absurdly young age – 19.
Born in Bien Hoa, a suburb of Saigon, Dang and his family emigrated to the United States in 1995 and settled in Charlotte.
He began washing dishes in a Charlotte restaurant at 16. A few years later, realizing he was good at greeting people and his older brother, Doi, was a good cook, he decided to take over a struggling restaurant a friend owned on Sharon Amity Road. He’s still there.
“I’ve traveled a lot of places, but I’d rather be in Charlotte than the other cities I’ve been to,” Dang said. “I’ve spent my life here, so I really don’t want to start over. It’s very comfortable to stay in Charlotte.”
His restaurant, Saigon Bistro, serves traditional Vietnamese meals such as pho, the classic Vietnamese noodle soup made with beef broth, chicken or beef, rice noodles and greens; and grilled chicken with tomatoes, cucumbers and steamed or fried rice with fish or plum sauce to enhance the flavor.
Vietnamese cooks tend to grill rather than fry meats, so the food is a bit healthier than in some other southeast Asian cuisines. The marinades are different, too; the Vietnamese usually use lemongrass and a particularly Vietnamese blend of spices, he said.
Dang and his family have earned their modest share of hard-won success. Dang’s father, Phang, served in the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) during the Vietnam War and was sent to a concentration camp after the south fell to the North Vietnamese in 1975.
Phang Dang spent five years in the camp. John was born in 1984, and when he was 10, the family jumped at the opportunity to move to the States through, Dang said, a government program for former South Vietnamese prisoners. The family practically picked Charlotte off the map – “just a random pick, actually.”
Saigon Bistro
3145 N. Sharon Amity Rd.
(704) 536-5888
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