It all started after the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War in . As waves of Vietnamese immigrants arrived in the United States, reactions to their arrival were, predictably, mixed. California Governor Jerry Brown, with a large number of refugees housed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, stated publicly that he didn’t want Vietnamese immigrants in California. Washington Governor Dan Evans was furious. He sent an equally furious aide, Ralph Monro (who later served as Washington’s secretary of state for five terms) to San Diego on a fact-finding mission. What he found was a population of smart professionals interested in making a new life here in the States. Dan Evans invited them to do that in Washington. The first wave of about 6,000 people settled predominantly in the greater Seattle area and were followed by many more.
With a sizable Vietnamese population in place, it wasn’t long until Vietnamese restaurants started popping up to serve food from back home to a region that just couldn’t get enough of their hot noodle soups. A bowl of piping hot beef, chicken, or vegetable broth and rice noodles, with garnishes and sauces to customize, sold for a reasonable price, was just the thing in cool, rainy Seattle. With almost as many restaurants with “phở” in the name as there are Starbucks locations, it’s clearly a local favorite. And, in case you didn’t know, it’s pronounced “fuh.” So, when here for Seattle Worldcon, don’t “fuh-get” to get that phở!