The restaurant is owned by chefs Anna and Anthony Nguyen, who built a following with pop-up dinners
It’s been two years since chefs Anna and Anthony Nguyen moved back to Colorado from California with the idea to start their own restaurant. And after a series of pop-up previews that garnered a lot of attention from Denver foodies, the couple has finally found a location.
In April, the Nguyens plan to open Sap Sua, a Vietnamese restaurant, at 2550 E. Colfax Ave., where Route 40 Cafe has been operating since June 2020. The space is in the Lowenstein Theater building that also houses the Tattered Cover and the Sie FilmCenter.
Anthony is a first-generation Vietnamese American, and the menu will include some of his family recipes with a twist, such as a charred cabbage dish based on his mother’s recipe. It is served over egg yolk sauce and seasoned with fish sauce and Thai chiles with rice. Another dish is grilled pork shoulder steak with lemongrass marinade and tamarind glaze.
“First-generation Vietnamese Americans have such a wildly different experience from our parents, and what we want to bring to Denver is an interpretation of traditional dishes I grew up eating and fell in love with,” Anthony said.