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
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A hike in Vermont last summer brought Vinh Le back to summers in Vietnam as a child. Listening to the sound of chirping cicadas reminded him of the simple pleasures of picking mango and walking around with friends in his home province of Bac Ninh.
Determined to bring this same feeling of joy and happiness to his neighborhood in Cambridge, Le rented a space on Prospect Street to open a coffee bar with his wife Duong Huynh. He drew inspiration from the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese monk.
“He’s a mastermind of living in the moment,” said Le. “His theory is very simple. When you eat, you need to make sure you are eating. When you sit, you sit right here to enjoy the moment. When you walk, you need to make sure you are walking.”