Vol. 61 — Broth at Dawn, Coffee over Ice
Vietnam
From Hanoi mornings to Saigon café tables
Standfirst
Phở steaming before the city is fully awake. Bánh mì wrapped for the road. Herbs piled high at the market and cà phê sữa đá poured slowly over ice. Vietnam is tasted in motion, one low table at a time.
Chapter One
Hanoi, while the broth is still clearing
Hanoi begins over bowls. Phở arrives fragrant with star anise, charred ginger and a broth tended through the dark hours, then finished at the table with herbs, lime and chilli. Nearby, vendors fan charcoal beneath bún chả while the pavement fills with low stools and the first conversations of the day.
The city's food is precise without being precious. A cook repeats one dish until instinct replaces measurement; a market stall carries exactly the leaves needed for lunch. Vietnam travel is remembered through these small sensory markers — steam on a metal counter, motorbikes passing, the clean lift of mint and coriander.
A Vietnamese table is built in layers: broth, herbs, crunch, heat — and always something passed from one hand to another.
— At the family table
Chapter Two
Saigon moves between the market and the café
In Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon in the rhythm of daily speech, breakfast may be cơm tấm with grilled pork or a bánh mì assembled in seconds: crisp bread, pâté, pickles, herbs and chilli. Markets provide the palette — dragon fruit, green mango, bundles of morning glory and enamel bowls bright against the heat.
Then comes coffee. Cà phê sữa đá drips through a metal phin onto condensed milk before being turned over ice: dark, sweet and made for lingering. Old cafés, new design rooms and plastic-stool corners all share that pause. The city moves quickly; the coffee refuses to.
Vietnam at home — colour, food memory and familiar everyday objects carried into the rooms where people gather.
Chapter Three
The tastes that travel home
Vietnam wall art and gifts for kitchens that remember phở steam, bánh mì wrappers, market herbs and coffee cooling over ice.
Poster — Hanoi
Kids poster — Vietnam
Phở cushion — Saigon
Vol. 61 — Broth at Dawn, Coffee over Ice — the pieces
Shop the Vietnam pieces
Everything photographed in this issue that is currently in the studio.
Vietnam · Apron
Vietnam Food Apron
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Vietnam · Baby bodysuit
Vietnam Food Baby Bodysuit Black
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Vietnam · Blanket
Vietnam Food Blanket
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Vietnam · Food poster
Vietnam Food Poster Black
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Vietnam · Sweatshirt
Vietnam Food Sweatshirt
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Vietnam · T-shirt
Vietnam Food T-Shirt
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Vietnam · Tote bag
Vietnam Food Tote Bag
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Vietnam · Kids poster
Vietnam Fun Explorer Kids Poster Black
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The Collection
The Vietnam Collection
Phở, bánh mì, gỏi cuốn, bún chả, cà phê sữa đá and the market herbs of the Vietnamese kitchen — illustrated for walls, kitchens and thoughtful Vietnam gifts.
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