Viet fare, with a little Thai, on its way to East Liberty
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Two newcomers to Pittsburgh plan to open Two Sisters Vietnamese Kitchen by late summer at 216 N. Highland Ave., East Liberty. It will be a casual sit-down BYOB Vietnamese restaurant serving pho, rice bowls and Vietnamese-style vermicelli dishes.
Vietnamese native Trinh Phan and partner Trang Somphonphakdy moved from a city that’s a Vietnamese hub, Atlantic City, N.J., where Mr. Somphonphakdy was a longtime restaurant employee.
The pair were convinced to relocate to Pittsburgh by Ben Wong and his wife, Kellie Truong. Ms. Truong is a partner with her sister, Tuyen Truong, of Banh Mi and Ti, a restaurant that opened in Lawrenceville in 2016 with a menu focused on variations of banh mi sandwiches, summer rolls and rice bowls.
The new space across the street from Hotel Indigo will seat just fewer than 50 people and will focus on straightahead renditions of Vietnamese fare, with occasional crossovers like Thai papaya salad in honor of Mr. Somphonphakdy’s Thai heritage.
The space previously held Union Pig and Chicken leased by The Wedgwood Group. Two Sisters will join a handful of newish Vietnamese restaurants in the area, which include Banh Mi & Ti in Lawrenceville as well as Ineffable Ca-Phe at 3920 Penn Ave. that opened in August serving Vietnamese drip coffee, breakfast items, pho and banh mi in a breezy stylish space in Lower Lawrenceville. In addition, a second location of the Squirrel Hill-based Tan Lac Vien debuted last year in Oakland, while Banhmilicious from Hoa Le set up shop this year in Smallman Galley in the Strip District and will remain in the food hall/incubator for another six months.
Pho loyalists may profess allegiance to Tram’s Kitchen in Lawrenceville on Penn Avenue, or Pho Minh in Garfield. And among the handful of Vietnamese restaurants in the Strip District, there’s the crowdpleasing street vendor Lucy Nguyen — whose personality is as outsized as her banh mi sandwiches. She has recently returned from her yearly trip to Vietnam, making her lunchtime banh mi in the lot next door to Bar Marco at 2216 Penn Ave.