Alysha and Thomas have been married for 26 years. Coincidentally, before they met, both started cooking from an early age in Vietnam.
As a toddler, Alysha loved pretending to cook and making air sandwiches on banana leaves. She spent a lot of time in the kitchen learning how to cook from her grandma. At 14, Alysha was cooking daily for her younger siblings while her parents worked. Although it was a chore, she loved to do it because cooking brought people together.
In Thomas’s family, his mother was the sole provider after the Vietnam war. By selling pho, she was able to raise 8 kids by herself. Thomas and his siblings also helped cook and serve food at the restaurant. Locals raved about his mom’s savory pho broth, which carried on as a family recipe to Pho Lantern Cafe.
Because of their common passion for delicious food, Alysha and Thomas opened their first restaurant together in Nevada in 2007. They opened Pho Lantern Cafe in Costa Mesa in 2013.
Their hope is that through this restaurant, they can share the healthy benefits of Vietnamese cuisine to the public through flavorful family recipes and bring family and friends together.