Destination Madison

Eggrolls and dumplings are other suggestions she makes to help diners acclimate to the tastes since they’re more common foods.

Not everyone is afraid to taste something new. Mai says one couple in their 70s became regular customers. Every time they would visit they would go down the menu and try something new.

A childhood favorite that’s not listed on the menu, but is available as a special on occasion, is the braised pork and eggs that Mai grew up enjoying. She still cooks it for something together and then call the family and cook for them, making different flavors for each dish. For example, if it was a beef dish, they’ll create three different flavors for the family to try. They repeat this process to get the green light of approval for recipes.

Mai says they’re continually testing even existing menu items to make improvements. She says, “We have to make sure that the salt content isn’t too high, or it’s not too sugary, because we want to make the food healthier.”

her children and says that whenever she visits home that it’s a dish she looks forward to.

To create the menu, Mai and her sisters spend a lot of time collaborating and testing recipes. They’ll create

The restaurant wasn’t open for a full year before the pandemic and its effects on restaurants took effect. Chi Em Eats opened in May 2019. The restaurant shut down for about three weeks in late March of 2020, then opened back up for one day a week of curbside takeout and delivery.

They decided to start there and see how it goes. After a month or so they started to add additional days of takeout and delivery. It wasn’t until

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this year that they started allowing indoor dining.

“We still have our tables pretty much set for social distancing. So we had communal dining before COVID, where our tables were long and people could eat together even if they don't know each other. But once the pandemic started, we separated the tables,” Mai says.

“We’ve transitioned back to fullservice dining but we still have a lot more takeout than dine-in service.”

To keep the menu interesting as the restaurant moves on from a rough year, the chef has started creating specials to draw people in, as well as creating a new dessert each week. These vegan desserts vary but one week the chef created Taro Buns, a custard-filled sweet bread. Other weekly favorites are cupcakes that utilize fresh fruits such as a mango swirl. Moving forward, Mai says she hopes to increase the menu, introducing even more food items to hopefully add to the regular menu – and continue to introduce Emporia diners to Vietnamese flavors.

And Mai will continue to greet and converse with her diners, “I have a lot of regulars who make eye contact and say ‘Hi.’ So that makes me feel good about it. And just knowing that they enjoy our food. That’s very satisfying to us.” —EL

Community Capturing COVID made last year like none other for our community. From schools, to business, health care, to community events everyone had to adjust to new ways of doing things. We reflect on the events in our community over the last year in photo essay by Gazette photographer Tim Mohn.

PHOTOS BY TIM MOHN