Cambodians will never forget their long and regal history. Centuries before Europeans left the Dark Ages behind, the sophisticated Cambodian royalty ruled much of Southeast Asia from lavish, beautifully carved stone palaces like those at Angkor, whose impressive ruins are located outside Phnom Penh. Though much has changed in Cambodia during the intervening millennium -- unfortunately, most of it not for the better -- Longteine de Monteiro and her daughter, Nadsa, have made it their lives' mission to preserve some of the proud cultural traditions they inherited from their royal ancestors. At their three Massachusetts restaurants, two called The Elephant Walk and one named Carambola, mother and daughter are delighting American gourmands with a centuries-old cuisine laden with rich, vibrant flavors.

The de Monteiros can trace their lineage to aristocratic nobility. Before the Cambodian government fell in 1975, Longteine's husband, Kenthao, was diplomatic ambassador to Taiwan. After escaping the war-torn country with very few possessions, the family opened their first restaurant, Amrita, in Béziers, France. The food that the de Monteiros served was what they knew: the haute cuisine of the Cambodian royal aristocracy. When the couple joined their daughter Nadsa and her husband, Robert Perry (now CEO of the de Monteiros' restaurant corporation), in the States to open the first Elephant Walk, they added the classical French food enjoyed by the Cambodian upper classes. Their unique royal Cambodian dishes, however, are what have always garnered the two Elephant Walks, and now Carambola, endless accolades. Marian Burros of The New York Times praised "the bright, clean flavors of the food Mrs. de Monteiro cooks," and in Esquire, John Mariani called their cuisine "absolutely delicious and enlightening." Nadsa admits that she likes to experiment in the kitchen more than her more conservative mother, but she pledges her allegiance to Cambodia's exquisite royal traditions. "The menu can ebb and flow, be more or less traditional," she says. "But the authentic, traditional cuisines...will never die."