Hard work drives man from killing fields to success in U.S.

By Sarah Shonyo

Post-Bulletin,

Rochester MN

Phala Nhean has a history perhaps unlike most local business owners.

Wong's Cafe Where: Hillcrest Shopping Center, U.S. 52 N. Hours: Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays. Phone: 288-3730.

Nhean, a Cambodian native and former war refugee, is the current owner of Wong's Cafe in Rochester. Nhean purchased the Chinese restaurant in 2007 from Dennis and Mike Wong, though Nhean's experience with the company began nearly 25 years prior, after a long journey to the United States that nearly killed him.

Nhean was born the third of six children in Battambang, Cambodia, in the late 1950s. His family was in the food business and operated a small stand until Pol Pot's reign of terror swept over the small country.

Pol Pot was the leader of a ruthless communist group called the Khmer Rouge. Like most Cambodian families, the Nheans were separated from one another, and Phala -- then an 18-year-old student -- was sent to work on a rice farm.

After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, Nhean made the bold decision to escape to Thailand -- on foot. After a month-long journey, Nhean arrived at a Thailand refugee camp, where he later met his wife, Bunna.

Nhean and Bunna started their life together by moving to the U.S. in 1981, shortly before the birth of their first daughter, Phally, in Washington, D.C.

"We had no money," Nhean said. "When Phally was born, the doctors and nurses gave us baby clothes for her."

After working as a hotel dishwasher for two years in Washington, Nhean and his family moved to Rochester at the suggestion of a family they'd met in Thailand. With another child on the way, Nhean devoted his days to learning English and worked evenings as a dishwasher at Wong's Cafe.

With a wife and two young daughters to support, Nhean became fluent in English, earned his U.S. citizenship and moved up to cook, then head cook at Wong's.

"I worked very, very hard," Nhean said. "I had to work hard to reach my goals."

One of those goals, Nhean said, was to purchase the very restaurant that had given him a chance 25 years prior.

After Dennis and Mike Wong decided to close the restaurant in 2005, Nhean searched for a new location for the business.

Though the transition between ownership wasn't seamless -- Wong's was closed for 18 months between owners -- the result embodies one man's tireless pursuit of a dream.

Nhean and his family re-opened Wong's Cafe in 2007 at its new location in Hillcrest Shopping Center. Though he has plenty of help, including his wife and youngest daughter, Lannie, Nhean spends nearly 90 hours a week in the restaurant.

"I'm really proud of him," Lannie said of her father. "His background makes it pretty hard for me to complain about much."

Sarah Shonyo is a Rochester freelance writer.