Cicada Coffee Bar: a restaurant, a cafe, a community
Inspired by Vietnam, two architects create a space to bring Cambridge together.
By Devra First Globe Staff,Updated April 14, 2021, 12:00 p.m.
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Vinh Le, one of the owners of Cicada Coffee Bar.Suzanne Kreiter
Vinh Le grew up in Vietnam, in a small town called Kinh Bac an hour or so north of Hanoi. Geographically, it is about as far away from Cambridge as you can get. Spiritually, though? âItâs one of the oldest towns in Vietnam. Itâs also very funky and weird,â he says.
That kinship is part of what makes Cambridge a natural home for Cicada Coffee Bar, the new restaurant and cafe Le opened with life and business partner Duong Huynh at the end of February. Both are trained as architects: They met when she interned at his firm in Vietnam, and he joined her in the United States in 2013 â cooking at Ming Tsaiâs Blue Dragon, getting a masterâs in architecture and urban design at Col