Pho

I love Vietnamese food, especially pho.  I was a little bummed when we first moved out here because of the lack of Vietnamese restaurants.  This was something I grew up on, some of my first good memories of learning to love ethnic food was with Vietnamese.  Actually, when my parents were in graduate school together, they had a very diverse group of friends and I distinctly remember eating all sorts of amazing food.  I always remember them throwing dinner parties and get-togethers with foods from Korea, all regions of Africa and India.  I think I was too young to remember liking or disliking it, but I do remember being quite enamored with certain dishes...in particular a Korean blood stew, I can still see and smell it.  It wasn't until I was a bit older when we moved from the Philadelphia/Delaware area to Minnesota that I first remember eating Vietnamese food.  Minneapolis has a huge Hmong and Vietnamese population and there are delicious restaurants all over the city.  I can't think of a cuisine that can be so flavorful yet imaculately delicate.  With Vietnamese food you get beautifully fresh colors and flavors, a wide spectrum of textures and temperatures,  and an assertive balance of every taste your tongue can identify.  Now pho encompasses all of that in the form of a hot soup.  If you have never had pho, get your butt down to Vinh Chau in Springfield and enjoy some.  Everyone seems to recommend the place across the street, Pho Saigon, but everyone is wrong.  A good Vietnamese restaurant is full of Vietnamese people dinning...ergo, Vinh Chau is the place to eat.  Plus, you now have a chef's recommendation...