Beyond the meticulous preparations found inside Hy Vongs’ kitchen, Katherine “Kathy” Manning leisurely paces the restaurant, serving a group of customers golden-brown spring rolls wrapped in lettuce leaves with nuoc cham at table four. Valuing lengthy dining experiences that allow guests to savor every bite, Manning nurtures conversation and connection through Vietnamese cultural dishes.
Whether Manning was distributing steaming bowls of pho or hot-pickled cabbage salad, her service respected Vietnamese culinary tradition and made the food worth the wait. Decades later, this alumnus and class of ’63 graduate returns to Coral Gables Senior High, reminiscing on her journey as a 2025 Gables Hall of Fame Inductee.
Before opening Hy Vong, Manning was introduced to Vietnamese culture in 1975 when she welcomed fourteen Vietnamese refugees into her home following the fall of Saigon. Among these refugees, Manning sponsored a widowed woman named Tung Nguyen and the duo raised her daughter, Lyn Nguyen, together.
Upon arriving at Mannings’ home, Nguyen cooked her grandmothers’ traditional Vietnamese beef soup for the household full of refugees. Getting a glimpse of her talent as a chef, years down the line, Nguyen became her business partner and they founded Hy Vong, one of Miami’s most celebrated Vietnamese restaurants.
After two years of preparation, the opening of the restaurant in 1980 marked the beginning of Hy Vong slowly growing into a huge hit amongst foodies for its cultural melting pot of Vietnamese flavors.
“We were the first Vietnamese restaurant in Miami. Now there are several, but we were first. Believe me, being first is hard, because people don’t know your cuisine and they want Chinese, right? So it took time, and Tung would get so mad at me because I would say to the customers ‘I’m going to give you a taste. I want you to taste it’ and I did that sometimes because people were hesitant. That’s one thing I loved about being a waitress in my restaurant was that I could guide them. I could tell them what was good tonight,” Manning said.
During the early days of the restaurants’ debut, Manning faced challenges drawing customers in given that she was an American waitress in a Vietnamese diner. Once people gave Hy Vong a chance, the restaurant caught fire as Manning presented customers with an array of traditional Vietnamese novelties ranging from poached squid salad to spicy pork ribs.
“It was hard for the Vietnamese to come in the beginning because they would see me up front. So they would come in, we get them all set up and everything, and then they would leave because they were looking for [someone who was] Vietnamese and I wasn’t Vietnamese. But, I always kind of directed them to the window, where Tung could talk to them…Tung’s food is so typically Vietnamese, she did not attempt to change it. She cooked just like she did in Vietnam,” Manning said.
Located in the heart of Calle Ocho, just a block away from the famous Versailles, Hy Vong, which translates to hope in English, became a beacon of promise in supporting the education of Nguyens’ daughter, who would end up graduating from Harvard and Cornell University.
Through Mannings’ commitment to honoring Nguyens’ classic Vietnamese recipes, such as lemongrass chicken and stewed curry chicken gizzards, Hy Vong went beyond offering a standard dining experience.
Comprised of a diner with no music, air conditioning, and 40 fold-up chairs with wooden tables, Hy Vong strived to create a homey feeling. Maintaining an intentionally slow-paced service, Manning and Nguyen encouraged customers to relax and talk with each other. By requiring customers to patiently wait for their courses, Hy Vong fostered a sense of community.
“One time a reviewer, [which] I learned later on, came in and there was only a six-table. I said, ‘I’ll seat you there, but I need you to share the table.’ He said, ‘we’re going to order a lot’ and I said, ‘that’s really nice, but it doesn’t help here.’ So they had to share the table, but then later I came by, they were laughing, the whole table was happy and they had the best time. When I saw the review, he said the food was magnificent, and the restaurant had soul and that made my heart happy. Every time I heard that made my heart really happy,” Manning said.
Persisting in popularity during the 80s and 90s, Hy Vong drew people from all walks of life, reflecting Mannings’ vision of sharing sweet and garlicky Vietnamese flavors such as the dried salted shrimp, tender pork and nuoc mam kabob with the Miami community.
Under Mannings’ warm reception, Hy Vongs’ reach expanded beyond its small dining room, with customers waiting for hours in lines stretching out the door just to get a taste of Nguyens’ specialties, varying from beef and pineapple soup to the noodle-peanut broth of Bo Bun.
Gaining a distinguished reputation for its authentic and delicious home-style Vietnamese delicacies, Manning and Nguyens’ hundreds of nights spent serving and cooking meals earned Hy Vong the title of number 11 out of all the restaurants in Miami.
After decades of serving authentic Vietnamese cuisine, Hy Vong officially closed its doors in 2015 after a rise in rent made it almost impossible to maintain the personalized service that defined the walls of the restaurant. Despite the opportunity to expand, Manning and Nguyen chose to prioritize intimacy and tradition over growth.
Even 45 years after Hy Vong served its last meal, the restaurants’ recipes and spirit are still celebrated by the community through Manning and Nguyens’ book “Mango and Peppercorns: A Memoir of Food, an Unlikely Family, and the American Dream.”
“We are so lucky [for] our customers. We closed Hy Vong in October of 2015, but then we did pickups and we did pop-ups at our church. Our customers have stayed with us and they would wait in lines outside…People would get a glass of wine, and then when they sat down, because we had 40 seats, people sat next to each other and they began to talk. This was my desire. I wanted people to come into the restaurant and relax and come out of the world for a little while and enjoy good, healthy food that lifted them up,” Manning said.
Behind the intricacies of Hy Vong, the powerful and inspiring story of co-owners Manning and Nguyen deeply resonated with customers. Creating a place where distinct classes and cultures could meet, Mannings’ hospitality and Nguyens’ culinary artistry set the stage for Calle Ochos’ transformation into a cultural destination.
From welcoming Vietnamese refugees into her home to influencing Miami’s culinary landscape, Mannings’ story of dedication towards community, culture and cuisine has cemented her legacy as a 2025 Gables Hall of Fame Inductee.
