As a war raged throughout Vietnam, MIT doctoral graduate Hal Hopfenberg was deployed to Saigon.

As a young Army captain, Hopfenberg was assigned in 1966 to the Army Concept Team in Vietnam based out of the Cholon neighborhood of Saigon, the Chinatown of Saigon — an area with a dangerous reputation.

While in Cholon working for the U.S. Army to develop technology to meet soldiers’ needs, Hopfenberg discovered a restaurant called The Eskimo at Cholon, a haven for traditional Chinese food and culture.

Hopfenberg did not know that years later, he would be responsible for bringing a taste of The Eskimo to Raleigh.

David’s Dumpling and Noodle Bar is the most recent of restaurants opened up by David Mao, a former cook of The Eskimo at Cholon – and a dear friend to Hopfenberg. Since his arrival to the United States, Mao started and sold eight restaurants in the Raleigh area.

As the current owner and chef at David’s Dumpling and Noodle Bar on 1900 Hillsborough St., Mao has embraced his calling as a cook: Mao opened up the noodle bar within a year of retiring and selling his last restaurant, the Duck and Dumpling.

Mao said he attributes his success from growing up in the kitchen, and he pays tribute his humble beginning with pictures of The Eskimo in Cholon that adorn the entrance of the noodle bar.

Mao said his family renovated the Eskimo, a former ice cream parlor, and Mao, the youngest of 13 children, ended up running the family-owned restaurant by the time he met Hopfenberg. Although the restaurant was a well-known meeting place for the prime minister of South Vietnam, Nguyen Cao Ky, complete with barricades to protect from grenade blasts, Hopfenberg frequented the restaurant and ultimately befriended Mao.

Hopfenberg said it was a common love for food and Mao’s curiosity that helped them relate.

“We had a deal — I would tutor him in algebra and he would teach me how to cook, and I cooked for my going  away party,” Hopfenberg said.

Hopfenberg’s offer to tutor Mao was an unthinkable opportunity for the young Chinese cook because the prejudice that Vietnamese school system held against his Chinese ethnicity prevented him from acquiring an advanced education, Mao said.

Hopfenberg returned to the United States in December of 1966 to become an assistant chemical engineering professor at N.C. State, but he did not forget his friend Mao.

On opposite sides of the world, the two friends led different lives, although their friendship never died. Mao endured six more years of war and the closing of his family’s restaurant in 1968, and Hopfenberg worked for six years with the immigration department to enable Mao to immigrate to North Carolina.

In 1972, Hopfenberg and his family welcomed Mao, and Mao stayed with the host family for three years. During that time, Mao cooked at a friend’s restaurant and worked to bring his family from Vietnam, bringing his fiancée and now wife, Quyen, to the U.S. in 1973.

During the next 2 ½ years, Mao sponsored the immigration of most of his family from Vietnam, and it wasn’t long before Mao found himself managing a string of restaurants in Raleigh.

Mao said the American palate has changed over the years, and now he can be more flexible and adventurous with his cooking, compared to when he first got his start.

“Americans don’t just want fried rice or sweet and sour pork anymore,” Mao said. “Though I can’t get too exotic, I enjoy introducing people to new flavors, and people are liking it.”

Mao said he cooks Chinese fusion food, and his restaurant’s menu is a snapshot of the best hits of East and Southeast Asian cuisine, including many traditional Chinese noodles and dumplings, Vietnamese pho soup, and different types of Malay curries.

Hopfenberg has kept up both his cooking and his friendship with Mao, and they have been neighbors for 32 years. Hopfenberg continues to praise Mao’s hard work in the United States, and the professor frequents David’s Dumpling and Noodle Bar just as often has he had The Eskimo.

 “David has been a wonderful friend and neighbor,” Hopfenberg said. “And ever since I’ve known him, he’s been a tremendous chef.”