Bon Appetit calls this Denver Vietnamese restaurant one of the 8 most anticipated openings of the summer

Denver doesn’t need national attention to validate our culinary scene, but it also never hurts.

In a story posted Friday, Bon Appetit counted down a list of its eight most-anticipated restaurant openings across the country this summer. They include a Taiwanese restaurant in Portland, a wine-focused neighborhood spot in Nashville, new concepts in Austin, New York City and Detroit — and Sap Sua, a Vietnamese restaurant planning to open in June in Denver.

Sap Sua is also one of The Denver Post’s most-anticipated restaurants of 2023. Here’s what we wrote back in December when husband-and-wife owners Anna and Anthony Nguyen told us about their planned location, at 2550 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver.

“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.”

Anthony explained that, “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.”

“If you grew up Vietnamese, these dishes should click in your head,” he added. “The flavors and integrity of the dishes are still there, but it’s reinterpreted and a little more composed. We’re taking our kitchen experience and combining it with some of my childhood memories.”

Sap Sua hasn’t announced an official opening date yet, but it will likely be mid-June.

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