Quitting your job as an
architect to put on the chef’s apron must have been a very intense decision?
Whether an architect or a chef I am still
proud to say that I followed a career from my parents. Because my father is an
architect and my mother is a chef and also the owner of a shop on Hai Ba Trung
Street near Tan Dinh market. Therefore, I already went to the kitchen and helped
my mother since I was 12 years old. In 1982 I went to America with my family. I
lived and worked as a chef in an Italian family restaurant for three years, and
then I continued to study architecture.
Because of my love cooking, I focused on
designing and building restaurants and kitchens in America. I had opportunities
to meet many friends and famous chefs from all over the world in this working
environment.
So knowledge of
architecture has helped you a lot in your cooking career?
Besides helping me to build a financial
foundation for initiating a business in cuisine, architecture and construction
gave me ideas as well as dreams and actively made me think of designing my own
future restaurant.
After constructing a restaurant and kitchen
for everyone I wondered if Vietnamese who left their country or western people
would like to eat Asian food, as well as authentic Vietnamese dishes, then
where should they go? There wasn’t any authentic Vietnamese restaurant in New
York at that time. So I asked myself why not take this opportunity to design
and cook myself? Finally I could make my dream come true. Bao 111 restaurant
was born in New York in 2001.
Do you think that it
would be an adventure when you left a stable job that you’ve worked at for 10
years to move into a new industry?
I think doing business you have to accept
the risk of losing or winning, but when I was opening a Vietnamese restaurant I
was confident that I did the right thing. In New York, Vietnamese food usually
sold in Chinatown or at a Chinese restaurant, so many people couldn’t
distinguish between authentic Vietnamese dishes, and usually confused it
Chinese or Thai food. I believed that I would be successful and introduce
everyone to authentic Vietnamese cuisine.
What is the way you created
a standard or a level of excellence for Vietnamese dishes?
I did so with the advantage that I could
design an individual space at Bao 111 restaurant that followed a modern style
that was my own idea and wouldn’t be copied or confused with any other restaurant.
It was also important that the cuisine was like artwork. I gave a sense of art
in designing the menus, such as the color combination or flavors in the cuisine
which is still missing in our traditional dishes. When I make a Vietnamese dish
I always make diners know that this is one hundred percent a Vietnamese dish. I
could do that because I respect the original recipes as well as cooking
techniques.
You won the title of Best
Chef in New York in 2003. This is because of your talent or the attraction of
Vietnamese dishes that helped you?
Actually Bao 111 restaurant has a limited
investment and capital compared with others. I just invested USD 200,000 while
other restaurants who also won the same title alongside have their investment
more than USD 2 million. But because I have background as an architect I was
able to design my restaurant with good space and lighting. In addition,
Vietnamese food is delicious, and was new and interesting so that convinced
American diners.
Bao 111 restaurant has only 48 seats serves
three rounds of diners, with reservations necessary one week in advance.
Colleagues usually tell me that Bao 111 restaurant “costs less, but gives many
stars,” because it was recognized early and many Hollywood stars usually come
to eat, such as Brad Pitt, Usher and more.
Michael Bao Huynh in a training course for young chefs
Are there many chefs in
New York interested in cooking Vietnamese food? What do you think of Vietnamese
cuisine?
I am responsible for the Vietnamese cuisine
faculty at the Culinary Institute of America campus in New York and it is a
famous school in the world’s cooking industry. One degree takes 18 months, but
students pay USD 45,000 per course. Now there are many students who study
Vietnamese cuisine. In this trip to Vietnam I came with eight famous chefs from
of the world from New York, San Francisco and about 15 students to practice
here in Vietnam.
In my opinion, in the next 10 years it will
be the era of Vietnamese cuisine and Vietnamese food will be presented
everywhere in the world.
What do you think after
talking with Vietnamese chefs in Vietnam?
Vietnamese Chefs in Vietnam usually are
very careful in their flavors but because they don’t have the ability or access
to go out and expand their knowledge, they often see their own dishes and get
too comfortable with what they’ve learned. Therefore, they lack creativity and
don’t break through with new variations in Vietnamese traditional food.
I think ingredients and spices must be
authentically Vietnamese to be able keep the original taste of the dish, but
also need to be creative, at least with presentation. The ideas should be more
diverse and visualized so that the dish is not only delicious but also
eye-catching, from its structure to color.
Why do you come back to
Vietnam while your business is quite good in New York? I hope that I won’t
receive a formulaic answer, but that it is because you want to do something for
Vietnam?
There are 1,001 ways to allow someone to do
something for his country. I intend to open a cooking school in Vietnam for
Americans who love Vietnamese food. They will study in Vietnam so they can
experience authentic Vietnamese cuisine.
Besides that?
I have just married in Vietnam and my wife
wants to stay more than leave.
Do you worry about managing two businesses
at the same time? The on-going business in New York and opening a new one in
Vietnam?
There isn’t anything like that because
everything will be implemented; following a plan. At first I just come back to
Vietnam for a few months, then I will increase my working time here and this
will happen step-by-step over many years. When I spend more time in Vietnam it
means everything is already properly arranged. I think everyone wants to live
in their own country and the more you age, the bigger the expectation that you
may feel this way.
Followed by Quang Tam- Vinh Phuong
Tiep Thi Saigon Magazine