Food can mean everything and anything. It can transcend memory, preserve culture, and tie a family together. Especially during the holidays.

Tuesday marks the Lunar New Year, a festival observing the start of a new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar observed in East Asia.

For many in the West, Lunar New Year may be something associated with China, and recognized as Chinese New Year. In truth, the holiday is also referred to as the Spring Festival, and is celebrated by many other Asian countries. This new lunar year will be considered a "year of the Water Tiger."

The holiday is celebrated with family gatherings, plenty of tradition — and food.

Nhi Mundy owns three Bà & Me restaurants with locations in the Poconos and the Catskills of New York.

The restaurant name may appear to be a play on words: foodies may recognize the popular Vietnamese sandwich bánh mì, but it's deeper than that. The name is a nod to her family; Bà translates to "Grandmother" and Me translates to "Mother" from Vietnamese.

Mundy, who spoke with reporters while in California to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday with her family, grew up working in her parents' restaurant in the Midwest.

Mundy immigrated with her family to America from Vietnam, and grew up in Kansas. She later relocated to New York City, before moving to the Catskills with her husband. There, she opened her first restaurant.

"I decided to do the one thing that I sort of inherently knew how to do — which was make Vietnamese food," Mundy said, noting that she perceived a shortage of Asian cuisine in the Poconos, which soon had her opening her second Bà & Me location in Honesdale.

The Honesdale restaurant "turned out to be a blessing" due to the support of the community. "We're very happy to be there," Mundy added.

Mundy relocated the Honesdale restaurant to a new, bigger space at 1008 Main Street last year, which has been a "blessing in disguise." Today, Mundy's restaurant boasts a 4-star rating on Yelp, and is popular with locals and tourists alike.

"In hindsight, I look at life's obstacles and, you know, it's just a matter of what you perceive, and what your lens is," she said. "So far everything has been positive."

A holiday like Lunar New Year, which Mundy described as "celebratory," centers on an "overabundance" of food.

"There are classic dishes that every family sort of eats every year and there's this sticky rice dish that's covered with banana leaves and morsels of pork that every family sort of eats," Mundy described. For Buddhist families, the holiday would also involve a visit to temple to worship the family's ancestors, she said.

"The food is really tied to every sort of lifestyle and relationship," Mundy said.

Food brings Mundy and her family together, and creates a sense of connectivity, especially when she hasn't had the chance to see them in a long time.

"It's that sense that we are sharing this food and that this food is meaningful to us," she said. The food "recalls a memory that we all share: whether it be the fact that we know this food so well, or that we shared the same dish 10 years ago while doing the same thing, or that it reminds us of our heritage back in our homeland."

A tagline on Mundy's sleek website reads: "LEGIT VIETNAMESE FOOD." Her take on the cuisine has been featured in Zagat, Food & Wine, the New York Times, and other national outlets.

While Mundy is no stranger to the spotlight, she said it was important to give shine to other Asian restaurants in the area — especially considering most are family-run. Such restaurants are open long hours and may be open up to seven days a week.

Mundy said that people like her parents paved the way for the younger generation of business owners, creating a foundation for people like herself.

"I'm a product of first and second generation (immigrants)," she said. "We sort of rely on the older generation, on their presence."

A new generation of Asian Americans have found a home in northeast Pennsylvania.

The 2020 Census found the group saw major population gains in counties like Wayne and Pike over the last 10 years.

While counties in the northern Poconos remain majority white, Wayne saw an increase in its Asian population by about 66%. Pike saw an increase of 43.2%. In the central Poconos, Monroe County saw a modest increase of about 17%.

Holly Przasnyski, executive director of the Chamber of the Northern Poconos, was excited to see more diversity in the northern Poconos, as a member of the Asian community herself.

"We have seen a few more Asian business owners," Przansnyski said. "But it is hard to quantify as we only receive that data on our end from the joining members."

Przasnyski, who has been executive director with the chamber for three years, was adopted from Korea and raised by American parents.

"I think diversity in any area is really important. I think that it really helps grow the economy," she said. "When people are able to relate more closely to some of the businesses or business owners, it can really help to grown an area."

According to Przasnyski, new members of the chamber who are of Asian descent are opening up a variety of businesses in the northern Poconos.

"Not only are (Asian business owners) opening new ones like restaurants and stores, they're also buying and taking ownership of existing places that were selling due to COVID," Przasnyski said, adding that some of those existing places would have closed due to the pandemic.

Przasnyski said the area's economy has been fortunate enough to make it through the "turbulence" of the pandemic.

The region has been lucky due to the fact that it is a "tourism destination" and a "drivable destination."

"We didn't see the large number of business closures that other areas did," Przasnyski said. "So it's nice to know that we are resilient and we are strong and we are able to make it through those things."

Ashley Fontones is the Managing Editor at Pocono Record and the Tri-County Independent. Reach her at afontones@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Restaurant owner's family-inspired food resonates in Poconos