In a dimly lit corner of his white tablecloth restaurant, Frederick Costa recalls the journey, the people and events that propelled him on a global adventure. A distant war. An assassination. Ambitious parents. A best friend who immigrated to America.

Memories swirl as he raises a glass of white wine.

It’s been 69 years since his family fled the emerging conflict in Vietnam for Nice, France, 62 years since the death of a U.S. president turned his heart to America, 48 years since he moved to Washington, D.C., with $300 and almost 25 years since he opened Frederick’s Restaurant on Broadway.

Along the way, he married and divorced, opened a French restaurant in San Antonio, split with his business partners, launched a cafe, went broke — “ dead broke,” he emphasizes — recovered and found

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