My background

My husband, Jeff, and I first moved here from Silicon Valley in 2000. He loves pho and there were no pho restaurants in this county. So he left his corporate job and bought a place called Joong Thai Pan (where Portofino restaurant is now — behind Wells Fargo in the corner of Parker Road and Mainstreet). It was a Thai place and since I loved Thai food, we decided to keep it a Thai place.

Seeing the freedom he had, I decided to open one in Centennial. That was how we went into the restaurant business — a desire to do something with the skills we gained from working for large corporations and make something of our own and sort of take our destiny into our own hands.

Business and life partner

The best part about being married to my husband is that I have my best friend, my business partner and a loving, caring, understanding man to share everything with 24-7. We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary this Labor Day weekend.

Taking a break

My absolute favorite thing to do is to read or watch documentaries. There is so much happening in the world that fascinates me. World War II, Middle East conflicts, the Vietnam War, Navy SEALs training … and catching up on all my favorite spy thriller shows like “The Americans” and “Homeland.”

I wish I could say I go out and find new places to eat but there is so much more to life than food and I am surrounded by food so much already.

Exciting escape

When I was 14, during one of my attempts to get out of Communist Vietnam with my younger brother, our boat almost sank and we were captured by the Vietnamese Communist Coastguard and sent to jail — living among murderers and such. We were there for 20 days until we were let out. So, I was a jailbird once!