Authentic Vietnamese food comes to Madison Park

The decor mirrors the traditional, clean and bright Vietnamese flavors on the menu, with a tall arrangement of orange and white lillies and small waterfall at the entrance and walls painted bright orange, gray and white. In the bathroom, a scent of lemongrass lingers.

The menu features traditional dishes with fresh, locally sourced and house-made ingredients, with a few personal twists.

Phan and Vo both moved to the United States seven years ago from Vietnam, Phan with her entire family from Da Nang and Vo from Saigon. While Phan’s parents returned to Vietnam, she and her brother have settled in Seattle with their extended family.

Phan loves to travel and eat, and the restaurant is a result of both passions, she says: “I was on an Alaska Flight and noticed they were offering bahn mi on the menu. It inspired me to start an authentic Vietnamese restaurant.”

She and Vo met while working at a Thai restaurant and decided to open Bella together, their first restaurant. Vo’s mother, who moved to the United States four years ago, is the chef at Bella.

“In my culture, all women know how to cook,” Phan said. “It’s not important to be perfect, but you need to know how to cook.”

Phan explained how an appetizer option of fried sweet potatoes with aioli sauce was traditional: “Fifty years ago, after the Vietnam War, the economy was very hard. Rice takes a lot of work to grow, whereas sweet potatoes would just grow on their own.” Hence, they became a part of traditional Vietnamese cuisine.

Other house specials include the bahn mi sandwiches and the pho noodle soup. The Bahn Mi is made fresh to order, with the bread sourced from Vietnamese bakery Tami One in the International District. For the pho, they make the broths twice a week, a process that takes over 10 hours each. “We use the big bones for the beef broth,” Phan explained. “To get all the sweetness, it takes a long time.”

Another personal twist is the tea collection. Phan personally sources, selects and then mixes 10 tea flavors. Her favorite is the “Peace of Mind.”

Phan chose Madison Park because the neighborhood reminds her of where she lived in Da Nang, Vietnam. “It’s a small town. Everyone knows everyone,” she said. “People have been so welcoming. We feel so lucky, and they thank us for coming to Madison Park.”

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