Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Feb 03/99) - When the new owners of a Franklin Avenue restaurant/convenience store went looking for a name, they combined some "new" with some "old."

Son Duong, Tran Phan and Dong Huynh, who recently acquired the Rose and Thistle Cafe business from Thang Truong, decided to name it the New Country Corner.

Prior to the Rose and Thistle, the restaurant was named Country Corner.

The New Country Corner, which opened two months ago, features a mix of Vietnamese and Canadian dishes.

Duong, who previously worked at NWT Air, called buying the business an opportunity.

Down south, Duong said he was struck by the number of people lining up for wonton soup and other Vietnamese dishes.

"When we went to Calgary and Edmonton, we went to Vietnamese restaurants. We said we can do this in Yellowknife," Duong said. Duong said he got a lot of encouragement from his two children attending university, one in Calgary and one in Edmonton. They told him his soup was better than what they could find down south.

Another ingredient in the New Country Corner is Duong's wife Tiec Thi.

Thi has several years of experience preparing food in Yellowknife. She has worked at Our Place, Stanton Regional Hospital and is currently cooking at the Yellowknife Correctional Centre as well as the New Country Corner.

"She knows everything about Canadian food," Dong Huynh said. Huynh, who works at the Reddi Mart, works half days at the New Country Corner's convenience store.

For Duong and the other owners, it's their first attempt at owning their own restaurant business.

Duong, sponsored by his brother, came to Canada 18 years ago. Three years later, he was able to bring his wife and two children over from Vietnam.

Prior to coming to Canada, Duong, now 52, served in the South Vietnamese Army from 1967 to '75. A lieutenant in the army, Duong would spend three years in a labour camp after Vietnam. His family successfully negotiated his release.