Hidden off of Bangkok’s Sukhumvit 23, there’s a Vietnamese restaurant where it’s still turn-of-the-century French Saigon. It’s in a building literally disassembled piece-by-piece in Vietnam, brought to Bangkok, and rebuilt- and inside, that’s exactly what happened to the family behind Le Dalat.

This is the story of Doan Ngoc Hoa, better known as Madame Susan, and the incredible, opulent, harrowing, one-of-a-kind story that brought her- and her food- from Vietnam to Thailand, by way of old Paris. And it’s a story about a dinner party that started in the 19th century and still hasn’t stopped- and one that we were lucky enough to join for an unforgettable evening.