If you’re jones-ing for a burger you’re in luck. Forming the cornerstone of most fast food menus, the burger is as All-American as you can get. The recipe calls for a meat patty sandwiched between two sesame seed buns. Creatively speaking, this wouldn’t impress the Bourdains and Ramseys of our time. But on a conceptual level, its genius lies in its simplicity. After it first debuted at the St. Louis’ World Fair in 1904, the culinary creation became an American […]

Cartoonist Gia-Bao Tran illustrates his family’s narrative through the filter of the past “A man without history is a tree without roots – Confucius” Ranked as a Top 10 Graphic Memoirs of All Time by Time Magazine, ‘Vietnamerica: A Family’s Journey’ provides a window into the past with illustrations about his family’s personal history across generations and different continents. The images are rendered by an individual whose background includes traditional cartooning, graphic design, watercolor, and block printing. “You can’t look […]

For foreigners, the most frequent encounter with the ‘Made in Vietnam’ label is on Nike shoes. For those living in Vietnam, the label is most commonly seen on some of the best local products found anywhere in Southeast Asia that everyone can enjoy. Ho Chi Minh City has seen a meteoric rise in quality craftsmanship, with everything from chocolate to craft brews proudly boasting the ‘Made in Vietnam’ label. The expression has been reclaimed in the form of local high-quality brands, marking the […]

Deciding where to go in Vietnam can be difficult, but Instagram makes it easier. Search for Vietnam and immediately, you’ll be granted an all-access pass to the vibrant beaches of Phu Quoc, the misty mountains of Sa Pa, and the bustling pavements of the Old Quarter in Hanoi. And apart from the cliches, users are given a chance to see a side of Vietnam that’s never seen in mainstream articles or media. Feeling overwhelmed by the number of accounts to […]

A Book Review By Izzy Pulido “Vietnamese street food starts with noise and ends with taste, with plenty of other things going on all around you at the same time.” Blogger-turned-journalist Graham Holliday’s first effort in the literary world, Eating Viet Nam: Dispatches from a Blue Plastic Table, takes readers on a culinary journey around Viet Nam through the lens of an autobiography. Published in March of 2015, the book is still relatively new. Yet the book quickly became ranked […]