Chef An Nguyen Hawks creates the flavors she grew up with in Vietnam, and during Lunar New Year this year, she hopes to continue keeping her culture alive through her small restaurant. 

“I wish that I have the strength, and the body, and the health to keep going everyday,” Nguyen Hawks said. 

Sen Saigon bills itself as the only vegan Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown, and Nguyen Hawks will celebrate its first year in the neighborhood next month. This month, it’s featured in the “Let’s Make Memories in Chinatown” poster campaign showcasing Chinatown’s small businesses.

“It really made me feel like we are part of the community. We feel so supported by the community,” she said.

The campaign includes two posters created to help increase tourism and revenue in the area. One of the posters features digital illustrations of more than 30 Chinatown businesses.

The posters are a collaboration with Poster House, a museum dedicated to the history of posters, and “Welcome to Chinatown,” a nonprofit organization offering support to small businesses in the area. 

Poster House chose Christina Young, who is part of its Artists in Residence program, to be one of two artists to lead the campaign. 

“I’m hoping that it encourages people to walk around Chinatown, and see these businesses, but also experience the lion dances, the parades, the color everywhere,” Young said.

Young’s poster design was influenced by people on the street she surveyed about their favorite places to eat, drink and shop in Chinatown. Many of the businesses are still recovering from the loss of revenue during COVID-19.

“A lot of people weren’t coming out to Chinatown. There was also that stigma against Asians in general saying like, I don’t want to go to Chinatown, I’ll get sick, but we’re really trying to rebuild after that,” she said. 

Salvador Muñoz, director of public programs at Poster House, says the museum works closely with the artists, and the posters will be on display until Feb. 24. Later, the posters will be collected and archived inside the museum. 

“It really highlights them as community members in Chinatown, and highlights the amazing things they offer to their community and city at large,” Muñoz said. 

This is the first year of the campaign using the Artists in Residence program. Its success will no doubt hinge on how well Chinatown does during this Lunar New Year.

“My wish for this New Year is that everybody is happy, healthy, safe and also that you come to the Chinatown celebrations,” Young said.