Truc Nguyen is the daughter of Vietnamese parents who have owned and operated the successful Truc’s Orient Express restaurant and gift shop in West Stockbridge for the last 40 years. “The local community has embraced us,” she says, “and our customers come from all over the world for our handmade Vietnamese cuisine.”

Nguyen grew up in the Berkshires, attending local schools before heading off to college and then a corporate career in New York City. She has always had a hand in the business, starting at age 8 cooking in the kitchen with her mother, then later returning home from the city to West Stockbridge on weekends to help her parents during the restaurant’s busy summer season.

In 2018, Nguyen will take over the business from her parents. As someone who has traveled the world, she says she is looking forward to coming back to the Berkshires with fresh eyes and ideas, honoring the legacy of her family’s business while bringing her own vision and experience to its future and to the region’s booming gastronomic scene.

“The Berkshires offer all the international flavors you could want,” Nguyen says. “It’s easy to feel connected to another part of the world and to other cultures,” she adds, “I never feel I’m missing out by living here.”