Kitsap locals turned fine dining chefs up for James Beard Award
Published 1:30 am Thursday, February 26, 2026
Restaurateurs Trinh and Thai Nguyen of Ba Sa on Bainbridge Island, Pho T&N in Pouslbo and Ramie on Capitol Hill in Seattle are up for the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Northwest and Pacific region, a prestigious honor likened to the “Oscars of food.”
While the final nominees will be revealed March 31 and the awards aren’t announced until June, making it to the semifinals is “incredibly meaningful,” the Nguyen siblings said. Earning recognition for their work at Ramie has brought their family’s history and what they learned growing up in Kitsap County full circle.
The Nguyen family moved to Washington from Vietnam in 1998, at the tail end of the humanitarian crisis in Southeast Asia as the region reeled from the Vietnam War. Parents Rang Nguyen and Huyen Tran brought their expertise from their country of origin to various kitchens in the Puget Sound area, moving to Poulsbo in 2001 and opening Pho T&N in 2005. The kids were still young; Trinh was 15, and Thai was nine, with older brother Joe serving in the Marines at age 19 and younger sister Linda not even 3 years old.
Joe, Trinh and Thai took over Pho T&N from their parents in 2018, but the values that the family built at the restaurant left an indelible mark on the younger Nguyens approach to cooking, Trinh Nguyen said.
“Pho T&N taught us discipline and perseverance. It taught us about community — many of the people we met along the way became friends and family,” said Trinh. “We grew up attending Poulsbo Elementary, North Kitsap High School, Emerald Heights, Ridgetop Junior High, and we all graduated from Central Kitsap High School. It was small-town life where everyone knew everyone — a community unlike any other. That upbringing shaped who we are. We learned that anything is achievable when you put others before yourself — when you give more than you take.”
When Trinh and Thai decided to open a second restaurant on Bainbridge after culinary school, they wanted to create a new menu that combined their family’s traditions with Pacific Northwest cuisine and fine French dining. They knew plenty about Vietnamese cuisine, but at culinary school, each “became fascinated by how much French cuisine had shaped our upbringing” as well.
Ba Sa’s menu reflects that, Trinh said.
“It was important that we understand the history and roots of where our restaurant resided, in order to guide our guests through more than just a meal,” she said. “That cultural fusion isn’t a trend — it reflects our history and the layers that shape Vietnamese cuisine today.”
Running a restaurant in very different cities comes with its challenges. Poulsbo has a community feel, as a “pit stop” for all the surrounding towns, Trinh explained, but BI is “half-community, half-tourism.” Seattle “feels big, yet small at the same time,” and the restaurant community in the city is very supportive and tight-knit.
It’s from their experience at each restaurant that they know one size does not fit all, Trinh explained.
“As Ramie garners national attention, our vision for Ba Sa remains the same. We’re not focused on defining fine dining in Kitsap,” said Nguyen. “We simply love creating food that brings people together — whether they’re celebrating with family or just sharing a meal. For us, food is a way to inspire connection, tell a story, and bring people closer to one another.”
