Tamarind is a Vietnamese restaurant in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City at 120 S Main Street. Owned by sisters Dao and Lisa Ly, Tamarind’s story began in a place far away called Gò Công, a small farm town in Vietnam visited by American soldiers during the Vietnam War.
According to Dao Ly, her family was able to immigrate to America in the early 1990s because her paternal grandfather was an American soldier who met her grandmother during the Vietnam War, a romance that produced her half-Caucasian father.
After the fall of Saigon, a lot of children were half Caucasian and they were persecuted for it, explains Dao Ly. Because of laws in effect at that time, qualifying children of American descent were allowed to emigrate to America, allowing her family to escape persecution in Vietnam.
Ly says her family had zero ties to the United States, they were very poor and in a life or death situation. When the family first went to a refugee camp in the Philippines in late 1991, it was five year old Ly, her pregnant mother, her father, grandmother, and her brother. The family lived in the refugee camp for seven months before immigrating to the US in February 1992.
(Lisa Ly) | The Ly Family.
While at the refugee camp, Ly’s mother made a good friend. She asked the new friend where she was headed and the woman said, “Salt Lake City.” She was going there because someone at a church was sponsoring her. Ly’s mother didn’t have any connection to Salt Lake, but since she didn’t know where else to go, she decided her family would start their new life in Salt Lake City, and her second daughter, Lisa, was born two months after their arrival. Dao says her mother and the woman she met at the refugee camp are still friends to this day.
Selling Vietnamese food at the refugee camp in the Philippines
Dao says her mother came to the refugee camp in the Philippines with almost no money in her pocket. She used what little money she had to sell Vietnamese sandwiches and desserts to other refugees in the camps. By the time she arrived in Salt Lake City, she had saved maybe $300 from selling food. Virtually penniless upon arriving on US soil, the Ly family, including the grandmother, went straight to work at a manufacturing plant through a program that helped assimilate immigrants to the US.
(Tamarind) | Vegan Beignet Bites Drizzled with Vegan Chocolate are Addicting.
“We have a very close-knit family,” says Ly. “We are still very close to my parents. My grandma passed away from cancer about three years ago, and the restaurant is her legacy.” Ly says one of the things her family did growing up was make meals together. “It was something my mom always wanted to do anyway because that was her bread and butter, how she made money in Vietnam and in the refugee camp.”
Eventually, Dao’s mother learned about nails and was presented the opportunity to purchase a small nail salon, which is now thriving in Davis County. At just 18 years old, Dao was able to help her mother buy the nail salon, where Dao worked full-time during her undergrad and sometimes during law school at Brigham Young University.
Dao’s siblings also worked at the salon and her brother manages it now, but Dao and Lisa went on to open their restaurant, Tamarind, which is inspired by the Ly family’s recipes and their love for food. Dao says she dreamed of opening a restaurant after her grandmother passed away. “I wanted to build a legacy based on what we did with her and my mother growing up, just cooking together and sharing recipes, because that was the way we connected.”
(Tamarind) | Vietnamese Pho with a Modern Twist.
Growing up, Dao and Lisa’s mother would cook large meals and it was a family affair. “In Vietnamese culture, you don’t cook one thing. You don’t just do spaghetti, there’s the rice, the soup, then the stir fry,” says Ly, and everyone would pitch in. Dao and her brother would help, and Lisa would help when she got old enough. The kids would help chop the vegetables and they would all chat in the kitchen and laugh. “It brings a lot of warm memories to my heart when I think about it, and when I think about the restaurant.”
Bringing fast casual Vietnamese cuisine to Salt Lake City
In college, Dao fell in love with the fast casual restaurant concept, but she couldn’t get Vietnamese food that way. As she thought of opening a Vietnamese restaurant, she decided she wanted something quick, but also customizable.
“I’m doing this mostly for people like me who want something healthier, somewhat authentic and fresh, but also convenient. I wished there was something like that for the younger Vietnamese generation to get Vietnamese food because there are second generation immigrants who want that. They don’t want the traditional Vietnamese sit down, they want something quick and casual that they can pick up and go. It wasn’t something that was available in Utah at that time.”
(Tamarind) | Tamarind's Family Recipe Vegetarian Egg Rolls.
Dao and Lisa are striving to get people to think of Vietnamese food differently. Most Vietnamese restaurants follow a certain business model—sit down, traditional/standard menu items, and non-standard recipes, but the Ly sisters want to show that Vietnamese food can evolve and progress with societal needs while also maintaining authenticity of flavor.
“This is why we changed our ordering process to be all remote and quick service to fit everyone’s busy lives. Our atmosphere is bright, modern and clean. Our menu is non-standard because it’s customizable to all dietary needs, and our recipes are standard to guarantee consistent quality. Lastly, our menu items are authentic with a touch of uniqueness that makes our Vietnamese food different from any other traditional Vietnamese restaurant.”
Tamarind is open Wednesday-Sunday from 12:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., but their food can also be sampled at the Salt City Wine & Dine event on Aug. 27 at La Caille Estate where Chef Vincent will be serving their Pho.