03/11/2026
Cheers to all of the incredible women in business this month!🥂We’re spotlighting one of Sophie and Eric’s sister’s Yen, who has been instrumental in their careers.
When the Banh siblings opened Monsoon in 1999, it was truly a family effort. Eric and Sophie’s sister Yen joined the founding team intending to help for two years—but stayed until 2002, helping shape the early success of one of Seattle’s most beloved Vietnamese restaurants.
Yen credits the siblings’ passion for food to their upbringing. Raised in a South Vietnamese family of Chinese descent, they grew up with a deep appreciation for the diversity of Vietnamese cuisine and regional flavors. Their mother—now 89—played a particularly important role, helping develop and refine many of the recipes that defined the restaurant’s early menu.
“Our parents shaped our palate and our love of food,” Yen says, adding that their mother’s influence has been present since the very beginning.
Working with family brought both support and challenge. “It was very easy and very hard,” she reflects. “We had flexibility and pooled resources, but we also had to learn to accept that we’re all different.” In the end, those differences became a strength—each sibling bringing unique talents that helped build the restaurant’s identity.
Yen eventually pursued a different path, attending law school then practicing law. Yet she remains closely connected to the family’s restaurants, still offering support more than two decades later. She met her husband while establishing Monsoon (he designed the original space and went on to design all Saigon Siblings Restaurant Group’s locations), and they were later married at the restaurant surrounded by family and friends.
Her story is a reminder that behind many great restaurants are women—mothers, sisters, and daughters—whose influence shapes not only the food, but the family and community around it. Yen’s daughter, now in college, grew up at Monsoon and works here during school breaks, part of the next generation carrying our family tradition forward.
Photo of the three Banh sisters pictured above, Sydni, Yen and Sophie💚💚💚
