Steeped in tradition: New Evergreen eatery serves up savory pho
<p>Jon Ly laughs while talking about starting his new restaurant Wednesday afternoon at Pho Ly in Evergreen.</p>
<p>Jon Ly fires up a pot of broth Wednesday afternoon at Pho Ly in Evergreen. Ly’s wife, Jinnie, prepares jalapenos in the background.</p>
<p>Customers dine Wednesday afternoon at Pho Ly in Evergreen. The restaurant is located at 2141 U.S. 2 E., Suite 200, next door to Little Caesars Pizza.</p>
<p>The Pho Tai, a rice noodle sour topped with thin sliced round steak and garnished with sliced onions, basil and fresh bean sprouts. April 23, 2014 in Kalispell, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
At Pho Ly, it’s all about the broth.
The rich, slow-simmered broth is at the heart of the new restaurant in Evergreen that features Asian cuisine. Pho, a popular Vietnamese noodle soup made with beef or chicken broth, is on the menu in many different variations.
Owner Jon Ly, a native of Vietnam who emigrated to the United States when he was 14, said his quest to create mouth-watering, authentic pho was simple enough. He loves to eat it.
“I love Vietnamese food. I eat this food a lot and they don’t have it here,” Ly said.
Pho typically consists of broth, rice noodles, bean sprouts, meat and herbs such as basil.
While the dish is the centerpiece of the menu, Pho Ly also offers egg noodle chicken soup, vermicelli and a variety of Asian dishes such as lemon grass shrimp, sweet and sour chicken, spring rolls and fried pot stickers.
Ly and his wife, Jinnie, and their two children moved from California to the Flathead Valley seven years ago. He was the sushi chef for Super 1 Foods before venturing into the restaurant business.
He has spent a lot of time through the years perfecting his pho to get the flavors exactly as he remembered them from Vietnam, where pho is a popular street food.
“The broth takes a minimum of eight to 10 hours, sometimes a couple more,” he said, explaining the process of slowly simmering the beef or chicken bones. “If the flavor’s not there, the soup’s not good. I put a lot of love into it.”
The restaurant has a spacious dining area — Ly said he wants diners to have ample elbow room — and offers take-out as well. It’s a family business, with Ly and his wife handling the lion’s share of the work.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, but the days start much earlier for the Lys, who spend the morning hours preparing ingredients and evening hours cleaning up.
“It’s 12-hour days or more. It’s long hours,” Ly said. “But if the main objective is money it’s no fun. I do it for the love of cooking, the satisfaction, that’s what drives me. When a customer says he likes my food it brightens my day.”
Ly, 40, said he’s truly living the American Dream. His grandparents left Vietnam decades ago to make a better life for themselves, and they sponsored Ly and his family.
“I still have relatives in Vietnam,” Ly said, adding that he has never been back to his homeland.
Moving to America as a young teenager was difficult, he recalled, especially going to school in California because he had no schooling in Vietnam. He began working in Vietnam as soon as he was able to help the family make ends meet. There was no time or money for school.
The Lys first came to Montana to visit relatives in Missoula and decided Western Montana would be a good place to raise their family.
Ly said his knowledge of cooking and the restaurant business is all self-taught, though he’s gotten advice from friends and relatives who are involved with restaurant work.
“Everyone has different techniques,” he said about cooking. “I try my best.”
So far, business has been good since the restaurant opened a few weeks ago.
Pho Ly is located at 2141 U.S. 2 East, Suite 200, next door to Little Caesars Pizza. Call 406-205-3128.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.