All Phở the Love

All Phở the Love, 2018. Hand-sculpted anise seeds, basil leaves, bean sprouts, green onion, and sauce bottles; hand-built table and vegetable trays; hand-painted mural, phở bowl and chopsticks that are adorned with traditional motifs found in Vietnamese restaurants; 300 yards of rope. Collection of U.R., Marina Del Rey, CA

When I think about the foods that feel like home to me, I think about growing up on Mẹ’s (Mother’s) phở, and I wonder to what degree her recipe derived from Bà Ngoại’s (Grandmother’s) recipe, and further more, how much Bà Ngoại’s recipe was like that of her mother’s. This sends me downstream through generations after generations of women who gathered in the kitchen to pass on this family tradition of cooking  and serving their families and their own unique iterations of phở—a tradition that the Vietnamese people have proudly shared with the rest of the world.  

Joining in on the fun with the way that some restaurateurs have playfully used the word phở in naming their restaurants, All Phở the Love invites guests into the interactive sculptural environment, to share a bowl of phở, and to perhaps even feel like they have stepped into the bowl itself as they are enveloped by clouds of steam with noodles looming overhead.