Sophon
Sophon was a Khmer restaurant and bar on Greenwood Avenue North in Seattle's Phinney Ridge neighborhood. It was open from 2024 to 2026.[1][2][3] Karuna Long opened and owned it.[2][1] Its menu drew on the Khmer dishes Long grew up cooking with his family.[1] In its first year Bon Appétit listed it among the top 20 new restaurants in the United States.[2]
History
Sophon opened in February 2024.[2] That year Eater Seattle gave it its new bar award, and in 2025 it was a James Beard Award semifinalist in the national new bar category.[2][4] In May 2025 it hosted a James Beard Foundation event on Khmer cuisine and culture.[5]
Sophon closed in the spring of 2026, and the state revoked its certificate of registration on June 1.[2][3][4]
Food
The kitchen marinated bite-size chicken thighs in kroeung (គ្រឿង), a Khmer spice paste, then fried them. It also served mackerel in kroeung curry and steak with tuk prahok, a dressing built on prahok (ប្រហុក), a fermented fish paste.[1]
The bar used Khmer flavors in its cocktails. The Mekong mixed coconut, ripe and green mango, fish sauce and Kampot pepper, with a house orgeat made from peanuts. The Khlang was a manhattan made with brie-washed rye.[1]
See also
Sources
References 5
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Allecia Vermillion, "At Sophon, Cambodian Culture Meets Craft Cocktails", Seattle Met (June 11, 2024)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 The Seattle Times, Sophon closure (June 2026)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Stranger, Sophon appears to be shuttered (June 2026)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 KIRO 7, James Beard-nominated Phinney Ridge restaurant shutters (June 2026)
- ↑ James Beard Foundation, JBF Greens Seattle x Sophon (event May 21, 2025)
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