On view at Pio Pico-Koreatown Branch Library
December 7, 2025 to April 1, 2026
2025 Creator in Residence Tien Nguyen has expanded on the Library’s renowned menu collection, exploring both iconic restaurants and those that have been lost over time, uncovering the histories of the people and communities behind them. Her work with the collection has resulted in informative videos, oral histories, and a display at our Pio Pico-Koreatown Branch Library, featuring a unique menu made from gourd that was donated by Monica Lee, the founder and chef of Beverly Soon Tofu, a Koreatown institution that closed in 2020.
Explore stories from the Menu Collection that Tien highlighted:
Project Introduction
Olympic Menus
Menu Collection History
Menu Diversity
Remembering Jonathan Gold
Ladies Menus
Gourd Menu
Thrifty's Menus
Peking Duck Menus
Barclay Kitchen Menu
Explore Tien's oral history interviews:
LAPL Community Histories - Michael Woo (Former L.A. City Councilmember)
LAPL Community Histories - Natsumi Saeki (Ducks Restaurant)
LAPL Community Histories - Alex Park (Choeng Wun Buffet)
LAPL Community Histories - Chang Hun Kang (Choeng Wun Buffet)
- Check out more of the library's oral history collection.
Tien Nguyen is a food writer focused on the intersection of food and culture, blending a journalist’s depth with an author’s storytelling skills. She is the former senior food writer at LA Weekly and has written for the Los Angeles Times and Eater. Nguyen co-authored L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food and The Choi of Cooking with Roy Choi, and Sohn-Mat: Recipes and Flavors of Korean Home Cooking with Monica Lee. A longtime Angeleno and an instructor at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Nguyen works to highlight how food tells the story of Los Angeles—its neighborhoods, traditions, and migrations.
The Library, in partnership with the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, has established a residency program, Los Angeles Public Library Creators in Residence, designed to engage creative Angelenos from a multitude of disciplines. The program supports local interdisciplinary creators and inspires new work informed or enhanced by the Los Angeles Public Library’s collections and services, while also highlighting the impact of the library as a creative haven.
Tien Nguyen is part of the 2025 Los Angeles Public Library Creators in Residence cohort, along with Creator Ashley Walker.