Every weekend night, my family will meet
at restaurants that my parents or I love. We rarely go to new restaurants. My
parents always like old things. Every weekend, I would think over and over
where to have dinner. After receiving the menu from the waiter, I thought about
it a long time to choose my favorite dish. I often think about ingredients and
the taste of food, but I have never wondered where these ingredients come from,
are there any stories behind them? Aside from the food in the restaurant, I
have never known another world in the kitchen, nor where the leftovers are
going.
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| Pho 24 menu |
The restaurant atmosphere is very cozy and
comfortable. The main color is brown, sometimes I think this is the kitchen of
my grandmother's house. My parents and I like to go out for meals because it's
convenient and fast, as well as experiencing delicious but complex food at
home. I love the sound of everyone laughing in the restaurant. Sometimes my
parents and I will hear some interesting stories from other guests in the
restaurant.
On a Saturday night, my family had dinner
at Pho 24 restaurant after my parents picked me up from school. The restaurant
was a bit empty that night, mom and dad told me something very surprising: my
mom and the wife of the restaurant owner- Mrs. Bui had studied together when my
mom had just moved to America. I knew my mom was very close to her, but I
didn't realize they had known each other so long. Now I have the answer to Ms.
Bui's occasional free deserts for our family. Sometimes in the middle of the
meal, Mrs. Bui and my mom would go to the restaurant's kitchen together, I
didn't know what they were doing, but it took them a long time to come back.
I always go to Pho 24 restaurant with my
parents or friends, so this will be my first time coming here alone. I stopped
by the restaurant on a Sunday afternoon. I had never before noticed the opening
and closing hours of the restaurant. The restaurant opens at 10 am and closes
at 10 pm seven days a week. The flashing neon sign is very appealing to the
eye. In front of the store, a large screen is displayed, introducing the
restaurant's dishes to the customers through eye-catching images.
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| The vegetable dish which is serve with pho |
The service staffs were friendly to
everyone, and look like everyone were happy to talk and learn new things in
their native language. I asked a lady sitting next to me, she also came here
alone. I asked her how her pho was, she said it suited her taste, and she
bought a small bowl of pho to bring back to her daughter. She shared,
"Today my daughter went to her grandparents' house, that’s why I’m lazy to
cook diner. I immediately came here to eat. I felt so good so ordered one more,
to save for my daughter who will be hungry at night.” I also should do that,
order some more pho to bring back for my parents.
After clearing my delicious bowl of pho, I
saw Mrs. Bui also returned to the restaurant after picking up her son from the
nursery. She smiled, walked up to greeted and asked me about some study. I also
gave her son a small bag of candy I brought before coming here. She took me to
visit the restaurant's kitchen. This was my first time in such a large and
professional kitchen. She introduced me to each person in the kitchen. There
were people frying rice, with a very big and hot fire, I watch it very
passionately. After a quick tour of the kitchen, she took me to see two
"giant" fridges of the restaurant. One is used for storing vegetables,
the other is used for storing fish and meat. Depending on the food, the
refrigerator must be adjusted to the appropriate temperature. She also
carefully divided each food into separate areas. Above each food, are carefully
written the name of the food, the expiry date, and which dish it is used for.
Outside the fridge, the rules for using the refrigerator are posted everywhere,
and especially next to the fridges, there are thermal jackets for everyone in
the restaurant. She shared that, in addition to these two large refrigerators,
under each food processing area, there is a dedicated fridge. The main purpose
is in addition to preserving food, but also to minimize travel. In the kitchen,
moving around with many people at the same time while preparing food is
extremely dangerous.
After watching everyone bring each sort of
sauce neatly organized into the refrigerator, she led me to another
refrigerator. This refrigerator is very special, a place for unprocessed
vegetables. Refrigerator with bean sprout, cilantro, culantro, Thai basil,
chilli, lemon, each dish with beautiful vegetables stacked on top of each
other. She proudly told me that this is a vegetable from the restaurant. The
main reason the restaurant has to provide these vegetables by itself, is
because these are special vegetables, which she said, these are mostly
vegetables originating from Vietnam. Previously, finding suppliers of these
vegetables was very difficult, and also very expensive, so she and her husband
decided to "provide" for themselves. She and her husband bought a
small farm in Madison to grow these vegetables. Every three days, fresh
vegetables will be provided at each of her restaurants. She also revealed that
the cultivation of these "Asian" vegetables was very convenient, so
she dropped the termite at some markets near the area. In "Farm to
Fable", Troy Johnson mentioned that the restaurant offers food from the
farm. “The farm-to-table movement is (or was) a very good thing. Restaurants
buy from local farmers, supporting the area economy and serving their customers
the freshest possible produce grown in season.” Although the restaurant does
not provide 100% organic food, it has partly brought the best food they can to their
customers. This is great.
Mrs. Bui told me, no matter how crowded
the restaurant was that day, she and everyone in the restaurant stayed behind
to handle the garbage. She told me, "correct" waste is the most
environmentally responsible work. She divides waste into several categories.
Recyclable waste is put in a large bin. Every Wednesday every week, someone
will come to pick it up. Leftovers and obsolete foods, which will be shipped to
a fertilizer factory. She always put these "garbage-that-is-about-to-become-fertilizer"
in a "garbage" refrigerator to preserve them from stinking while
waiting for people to transport. Maybe I should call her restaurant kitchen
"fridge kitchen". With her small farm, she saved tea or coffee
bodies, took them home, mixed with other fertilizers, created her own
"green" fertilizer, for her vegetables.
I have been a long-time diner of her
restaurant, but I have never thought, behind every delicious bowl of pho, is a
lot of effort. After leaving the restaurant, I felt like I was
"fresh". She shows me that the small, everyday things we throw away,
can be very helpful later. If I didn't visit the restaurant today, I don't
think I would have a second chance to get acquainted with the
"refrigerators". I have never thought of using a refrigerator to
store garbage, using corpses of tea and coffee to make fertilizer, never have
thought of "doing" the above. I feel that I have created the
opportunity for myself to be lazy with daily useful things. I hope after today,
I will treat waste better.
Behind many delicious bowls of pho, there
are many good things to deserve.
Works Cited
Bui, Anh Nhu. Personal interview. 29 Oct.
2019.
Johnson, Troy. “Farm to Fable.” Food
Matters. Ed. Holly Bauer. 191-195. Print.
