Since it's beginnings Utica and the Mohawk Valley have been energized and renewed by refugees and immigrants. Synath and Saram Buth were two of the first Cambodians to arrive here in the 80's.
Their story is featured in the Reader's Digest Article on "The Second Chance City" (http://www.rd.com/content/printContent.do?contentId=43037). Here's an excerpt that tells everything: "Standing in the airport near Utica on chilly November 11, 1981, wearing sandals and carrying three small bags that held his family's earthly belongings, he took a look around. "I said to myself and my wife, 'We are born again.'"
The Buth's have become an integral part of Utica. (Turns out I first met them when our sons played hockey together in the 90's - talk about assimilation!) Their latest contribution is Myoura's Taste of Cambodia Restaurant at 675 Bleecker Street in Utica., a few doors up from the Florentine for those who know the area. Friends introduced us to Myoura's recently on a snowy, cold Saturday evening. The hospitality was gracious, the food fresh, natural, and delicious, and the cost inexpensive. Since that visit I've taken friends and even my nearly 4 year old granddaughter and everyone loved it.
Per their website, "Khmer Cuisine has much in common with the food of neighboring Thailand and Vietnam. It has also drawn upon influences from the cuisines of China and France, both of whom are powerful players in Cambodian history." Next time you have a hankering from something both healthy and delicious, head for Myoura's.
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