Andrea Quynhgiao Nguyen was born in 1969 in Vietnam and fled with her family of seven when Saigon fell in 1975. Fleeing the communist regime, her family emigrated with only enough belongings for a vacation, but brought with them a notebook filled with her mother's recipes. They settled in Southern California and attempted to buy foods they were familiar with, but the dishes were mass produced and not very tasty. Nguyen's mother suggested they replicate foods from their homeland, by making the dishes themselves. After a childhood spent in San Clemente, Nguyen attended the University of Southern California and graduated with a B.S. in banking and finance and M.A. in communication management.