Like any serious food city, making culinary waves in Portland is difficult—especially if you’re newcomers (Anna Vocaturo and Sarah Bui) serving a popular cuisine (Vietnamese). Still, the duo managed to gain a serious following after moving to Oregon and launching the Doi Dua pop-up, even gaining the rank of “best new Vietnamese restaurant” from Willamette Week. Thankfully for Washingtonians, the partners are back in DC and ramping up Doi Dua’s event schedule. First up: a Vietnamese fried chicken pop-up at Honeycomb market this weekend.
Vocaturo was on the opening team of Rose’s Luxury, and spent a year at the restaurant (fun fact: Rose’s also made her a Bon Appétit cover girl). The duo moved to Oregon to work in wine, and started collaborating on vineyard dinners with a Vietnamese influence from Bui, an avid cook with Southern Vietnamese family. Though they’re not searching for a brick-and-mortar restaurant space as of now, regularly recurring Doi Dua pop-ups are slated to begin next month (location coming soon). Each will feature a tasting menu with modern takes on traditional dishes such as bánh hỏi, woven bundles of vermicelli noodles with crispy pig ear, pickled garlic, and fresh herbs, or canh chua cá, a homestyle sour soup with halibut.
“We’re excited to be working on the tasting menu,” says Vocaturo. “It’s a lot of work—half the time we feel like we’re hungover from exhaustion—but it’s definitely worth it. We can do our own thing.”
Diners can get a preview this Sunday at Union Market, where Vocaturo and Bui will serve Vietnamese fried chicken out of Erik Bruner-Yang’s Asian market. The brined, crispy thighs are tossed in fish sauce-caramel and chilies, and served with cucumber salad for $10. Vegans will also find salad rolls stuffed with local tofu, Vietnamese herbs, and toasted rice powder ($7). Portions are available from 11 am until 8 pm, or until they’re gone.
Doi Dua at Honeycomb. 1309 Fifth St., NE
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
