Kathy Manning, Tung Nguyen Phuong Lien

Hy Vong

Kathy’s bio:

Kathy is a native of the American Midwest. She and Tung own Hy Vong Restaurant. She resettled Vietnamese refugees in 1975 supported by Lutheran World Relief. Kathy holds a degree in sociology from Barry University, and a degree in Mathematics from the University of Miami. Kathy was a math teacher for three years but found greater purpose in celebrating Tung Nguyen’s food, running Hy Vong Restaurant and learning from people of different backgrounds. She has travelled to Vietnam on five occasions. In 1994 she was the first American that the Vietnamese government allowed to stay within the countryside in Dien Ban, Quang Nam Vietnam (Tung’s home province).

Tung’s bio:

Tung’s grandmother taught her how to cook from childhood. In her twenties, she took her skills from the country to the city and made and sold street food in Saigon. At the fall of Saigon In 1975, recognizing that her life was in danger, Tung jumped onto a refugee boat bound for America. Tung didn’t speak English, arrived with nothing, and was soon to realize that she was pregnant. Before her long trip from Vietnam to the US, she had never been anywhere where her feet could not carry her. Upon arrival in the US, Tung met Kathy and four years later they opened Hy Vong in Miami.

Lyn’s Bio:

Phuong Lien (Lyn) was born in Miami not long after her mother, a refugee from Vietnam, arrived in the US. Lyn grew up helping in Hy Vong Restaurant, until she left home for college.