Eric Banh

Eric Banh is a chef and entrepreneur who guides Monsoon and Ba Bar in Seattle. With his late father, who led the family through an immigration journey that extended from Vietnam to Canada, as a role model, Eric Banh emphasizes using fresh, local ingredients at the street-casual Ba Bar. The restaurant serves pho and banh con and expanded in late 2021 to include the next-gen plant-based Ba Bar Green at South Lake Union.

Mr. Banh, alongside his sister Sophie, launched the landmark Capitol Hill eatery Monsoon in 1999. He featured items such as tamarind soup, seared Chilean sea bass, and red bean chicken with taro root on the menu adhering to Vietnamese cuisine. The restaurant quickly gained a dedicated following and was selected to many “best of” lists in the local area. Ultimately, it was featured in a full-page Bon Appetit spread and selected as one of the best neighborhood restaurants in America.

Having also curated an extensive selection of wines from Germany and Alsace, Mr. Banh gained recognition from Wine Spectator magazine with an award of excellence. His restaurant became a place to sample fine vintages while exploring elevated Vietnamese fare. At this point, Eric Banh and his sister plunged into the culinary world of Asian street food and established the first Ba Bar in Capitol Hill.