New restaurant to be located at NYM VFW

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

New York Mills recently gained its newest restaurant, located at the VFW Post #3289 at 220 North Boardman Avenue.

Sone’s Asian & American Cuisine opened on Tuesday, Oct. 14 and welcomed its first customers to taste a combination of Asian, Cajun and American cooking at the VFW. 

Perham resident, Sone Green, is the owner and operator of the new NY Mills location. This is actually her second location as she has operated her first location at the Pelican Rapids VFW Post for the past four years.

“I waitressed for about eight years and then I started a food truck business,” said Green. “Then the kitchen at the VFW in Pelican came open so I stopped doing the food truck and took a chance with the VFW.”

Taking that risk resulted in a successful, thriving business in Pelican Rapids and now an opportunity to expand into NY Mills. When the NY Mills VFW Post #3289 posted a call for those interested in leasing their kitchen, Green jumped at the chance.

“A lot of people reached out to me when they put it on Facebook,” Green said. “So I messaged Scott (Koennicke) right away to set up a meeting and I talked to them and they wanted me here.

“I’m looking forward to this second adventure,” she continued. “I plan on keeping my location in Pelican as long as I’m able to. I look forward to bringing my cuisine to the area and bringing people together.”

The crew in NY Mills is small, with Green and her family as well as a few workers from the Pelican Rapids location helping out in the first stage of opening. Green plans to make her entire menu available as soon as possible and plans for a grand opening on Saturday, Nov. 1. She loves the restaurant business and hopes to see many new faces returning in the coming months.

“The people that I connect with, customers, the people that love my food,” said Green. “People say that I give them a welcoming feeling—no matter where you come from or what walk of life you are—we greet you the same, with a smile, and serve you. I don’t see anybody different and I just love that people can come together to enjoy some good food, it makes me pretty happy.”

Green was a baby when she came to the United States as a Laotian refugee with her family, so she grew up eating food from southeast Asia, including that of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. She also grew to love the variety of food America had to offer including some Cajun influence she picked up living in Arkansas.

“I love all types of food and I love to cook,” she said. “So it’s a mixture of everything. All my Asian food has a different flair, not everything is as you would expect it to be, and they are all stir-fried fresh.”

Green commented that though she came from humble beginnings, she is happy and proud to be able to live the American dream as a successful businesswoman. She appreciates all of the support that got her to this point.

“I want to thank the board members and the staff here at the VFW in Mills for being so welcoming and helpful in this transition,” said Green. “I know it’s going to be all new to everyone so if you see a board member or crew thank them and give them a warm thank you for giving me this opportunity. I want to show them my appreciation too for me being here and also for their service.”