Southern California with a Vietnamese twist.

This is my great-grandfather on my mother's side, in 1941. He was the owner of a large ceramics factory in Vietnam.

Between then and now, a whole, messy chain of events slid into place. The Communists took over Vietnam, appropriating all private industry, including of course, the prosperous family business. Then came the grim and precarious years in concentration camps for various uncles, the forced labor for many aunts and the eventual flight to America, with not much more than the clothes on their backs. The immigrant tale redux.

Multiply my family's story exponentially, give or take a few details, add the bare-knuckle efforts of the first generation and the open arms of the second, and you get Little Saigon, in Westminster, California. Of the approximately 160,000 overseas Vietnamese living in Orange County, some 60,000 are clustered in the Westminster/Garden Grove area, a cultural epicenter for the Vietnamese diaspora, according to census records, although Vietnamese Americans put the number far higher. If you're interested in how and why Little Saigon came to be, you can find an excellent historical explanation at Wandering Chopsticks.

A culture is often accessed--and assessed--by the kitchen door. If you find yourself in Los Angeles or Orange County, there are very many such "kitchen doors" to try; the Vietnamese cuisine available today in Little Saigon often rivals the best to be found in Vietnam.

Here are a few places where you won't go wrong, where the food is mouth-wateringly authentic, the bill is easy on the wallet (helpful in these recessionary times) and the atmosphere is pleasant.

For a steaming bowl of star anise-scented Phở, go to Pho Thang Long Restaurant, located within a strip mall at 9550 Bolsa Ave., in Westminster (tel: 714 839-4955). If you aren't familiar with what is practically the dish of Vietnam--and which as Andrea Nguyen puts it, rhymes with "duh"--then check out her comprehensive description of this (inexpensive) body-and-soul food.

As you can see, the restaurant has a more upscale atmosphere than the typical "ethnic" restaurant (even though a huge bowl still goes for $5-8), and I kind of fell in love with the orange walls. Please don't blame me if you find yourself with long-term cravings for this soup. It happens to nearly everyone, which explains its immense popularity among Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese alike.

If you're looking for a more crunchy addiction, opt for the nem nướng cuốn at the rather hidden but always bustling, well-loved Brodards on Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove. It's the main reason diners come to the large restaurant, judging by their tables.

This is what it looks like:

This is what it tastes like: fresh (with its translucent rice paper casing and green herbs), crunchy (thanks to the rolled and fried green onion within) and oh so savory (that due to an ultra-delish pork pattie utterly unlike Western style sausage and the secret sauce that you dip it in).
Brodards also serves a eye-wideningly good bánh hỏi chạo tôm (Angel vermicelli "cake", served under shrimp patties grilled on sugar cane sticks then sliced and served with peanuts, browned shallots and fresh scallions). Tuck it into the accompanying lettuce, add cilantro , basil and other herbs...and you've your own bit of heaven. Crunch, sweetness, saltiness, an explosion of fresh herbs--as savory and delightful as the pork pattie rolls, but then on a seafood riff.

There are other restaurants I'd also recommend, such as the well-established Van restaurant (Nha Hang Van, 14122 Brookhurst St, Garden Grove, tel: 714 530-6858). Aficionados come not for the atmosphere (there isn't really any, per se) but rather for its top-notch bánh xèo (a crispy stuffed crepe) and bánh khọt (melt in your mouth fried "open-face" cakes with shrimp in the middle). It is a favorite of my aunts and uncles who live in Little Saigon, but you can also read a review and see nicer photos than I took (I guess I was too busy scarfing down food that time!) by the always-engaging Hong and Kim at Ravenous Couple.

In case you're wondering, I did do more than eat my way through Southern California. Honest. I'll write about it soon, but I have to stop for lunch; writing this has made me hungry.