"Born in a refugee camp in Thailand after her parents fled the Cambodian genocide, Nite Yun and her family moved to Stockton, California when she was two, and it was there that she grew up pounding lemongrass in the kitchen with her mom. “My parents didn’t talk much about Cambodia or the Khmer Rouge—those memories are too painful,” she says. “But when they do mention it, they talk about the golden era, the ’60s and early ’70s. It was a carefree time where there was music and life around them and art was celebrated.” It was this spirit that Yun found when she visited Cambodia the first time. “I wanted to bring that back, to have my parent’s generation and the younger generations celebrate this time, and hopefully heal as well.” So she quit her job as a nurse and started hosting dinners at her house, cooking the dishes she grew up eating, like rice noodle soup and prahok ktiss, a pork belly dip with fermented fish paste. “When I heard about La Cocina, I had no knowledge of operating a business, so I thought I’d never get in,” she says. But the organization saw her potential and kept reaching out until she agreed to cater a board meeting—which turned out to be an informal interview. She was accepted. “It was the abundance of resources I found at La Cocina that allowed me to openNyum Bai,” says Yun. “I’m still learning, but having a good team really helps.”" - ByHilary Cadigan
