PHO #1 Vietnamese restaurant (554 St. Peter St., St. Paul; facebook.com/Pho-1-Vietnamese-Restaurant-1627469130604385), serving Vietnamese, Chinese and other Asian fare, recently opened in downtown St. Paul near the Minnesota state Capitol and St. Joseph’s Hospital. We chat with Quinn Nguyen, 34, about how the restaurant came to be, his love for pho and more.

What’s your first food memory? My mom’s cooking, such as braised pork with eggs. It just tastes really like Vietnamese home food. Every time I eat it, it’s home sweet home.

What did you want to be when you grew up? I didn’t know what I wanted to be.

What was your first job in food? My uncles have a restaurant in Eden Prairie. I would go there and help out. My job before the restaurant was at a nail salon that I’ve run for 17 years. I still own it.

How did you wind up in the restaurant business for good? I wanted to try something different. We like to cook and I told my wife, “Why don’t we try opening a restaurant?” I had been looking for a space and I was on Craigslist when I saw the Babani’s space was available (Babani’s relocated to the former Wabasha Deli space in St. Paul). I called, and there it was.

We have several kinds of pho, the Vietnamese rice noodle soup with beef or chicken, on the menu. I never get sick of it. Before we opened the restaurant, every time my wife asked me what I want to eat, I would say pho.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu right now? Pho. We have good pad Thai, rice noodle salads and fried rice, too.

What’s the last thing you cooked at home? A Vietnamese tomato stew, sautéed greens and braised pork with eggs — Vietnamese home food.

If you could eat or drink only five things for the rest of your life, what would they be? Pho. Vietnamese crab noodle soup. Braised pork with eggs. Fried fish. Water.

What’s next? Just try to keep getting more people in and have them enjoy their dining experience. I’d like to continue to try to improve and keep adding more dishes.