Ten years ago there was almost nowhere in New York to get the Vietnamese food Jimmy Ly and Yen grew up eating. She had come from a big Vietnamese community in Mississippi by way of Houston; he was born and raised here, baking at his parents' Paris Sandwich in Chinatown. The first real conversation they had was about where you could get good Vietnamese food in this city. The answer was nowhere, so they got married and opened a restaurant.

Tiffany Pham sits down with Jimmy over the bowl that has just been named the best pho in Manhattan for 2026. He explains why it's Southern-style rather than Hanoi, and how the broth is his mother's recipe and Yen's mother's recipe argued into one: one was too sweet, one was too light. He talks about the 24 hours, which was never a gimmick. About the short rib, which came from the night Yen's mother carried a tray of them out at a family dinner while he and Yen were still dating, and he had never seen anything like it. "Like dinosaur ribs. It blew my mind."

His parents wanted a banker or a lawyer. He went into hospitality instead, and they have since retired because he asked them to. "Mom, we're okay. You don't have to do this anymore."

Asked who he's cooking for, he says: we cook as if we're making this for the people that we love.

Savor with Tiffany Pham, a Representation production, is a companion to the television docuseries premiering May 2027. Cinematography by: Kym Pham.

CHAPTERS
00:00 "So happy to see you", and the best pho in Manhattan
01:36 Ten years, and a love story that started with food
02:39 Paris Sandwich, and learning to bake in Chinatown
03:44 "Become a banker, become a lawyer"
04:11 Why Southern-style, not Hanoi
04:40 Merging his mother's recipe with Yen's mother's
05:14 The short rib: a tray of dinosaur ribs
06:48 On the copycats
08:05 Southern vs northern, and the noodles
09:30 The 24-hour broth
09:42 "Penicillin for the soul"
10:23 Bolder, more đậm đà
11:44 Who are you cooking for?
13:07 "You are coming into our home"
14:07 His parents, retired at last
15:03 The decal goes on the window

ABOUT MADAME VÔ
Madame Vô — madamevo.com

🎬 The Savor with Tiffany Pham docuseries premieres May 1, 2027
🌐 savortheuniverse.com

Click here to view the episode transcript.