The Dot Magazine
  • Tiếng Việt
  • Guide
  • Culture
  • Travel
  • Brand Stories
  • News
No Result
View All Result
Logo Logo
The Dot Magazine | Your Insider Guide To Saigon And Beyond
  • Guide
  • Culture
  • Travel
  • Brand Stories
  • News
No Result
View All Result
Logo Logo
The Dot Magazine | Your Insider Guide To Saigon And Beyond
No Result
View All Result
Logo Logo

The NOSH Young Guns Chefs Come Out Firing

Uyen Tran by Uyen Tran
5 October, 2023
in Happenings
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
NOSH Young Guns at The Jetty

The half-way point of the NOSH Young Guns series seems an apt time to check in with the chefs from four different restaurants who have brought a youthful buzz to this series of “breath of fresh air” events. 

Đọc bài viết bằng Tiếng Việt

There’s Duy Dinh and Khoa Tran from Elgin, Sy Nguyen from Okra, Duy, who’s been popping up at Que, Hoang Phuc from Mùa Craft Sake, and Truong Hiep, from The Jetty, who plays regular host. 

First, Truong Hiep heads over to their place – Elgin, Okra, Que and Mùa Craft Sake, for a kitchen collaboration, then he invites their chef back to The Jetty for the return leg. 

The Jetty's Truong Hiep
“This is about us getting our food out there.” – The Jetty’s Truong Hiep

Each event, in collaboration with Red Apron Wines And Spirits, Celliers d’Asie, and Lighthouse Indochina Group, in this ‘celebration of the future of food,’ has a different theme. For example, next up is ‘Nhậu x Izakaya,’ a fusion of these two like-minded culinary traditions, with Mùa Craft Sake’s Hoang Phuc offering up Japanese flavors and Truong Hiep representing his rowdy, local nhậu culture. And, before this, came ‘Seafood And Eat It’ – a fishy extravaganza featuring Chef Duy, at Que, and Truong Hiep at The Jetty. Additionally, they were joined by The Jetty’s Chef Hanh, who’s late entry adds some feminine chutzpah to the proceedings. 

“It’s more than just food.”

“It’s more than just food,” Duy Dinh says about both his culinary philosophy and this series of events. “Food doesn’t just satisfy hunger, it also helps us to nourish the spirit!”

“Eating provokes so many emotions as well,” Duy Dinh’s kitchen-mate at Elgin, Khoa Tran, elaborates. “And, when the guest is happy, that fills me with an indescribable sense of satisfaction too.”

Que's Duy
Chef Duy, who’s been resident at Que and who moved to the States at 17 to work at restaurants like Rose’s Luxury.

Surprisingly, national service brought them both here. “I’d cook for my comrades,” Duy Dinh tells us proudly about his time in the army. And when he was discharged he went to work in Japanese restaurants – a great foundation in kitchen skills. 

“I didn’t know anything about cooking before I joined the army,” Khoa Tran explains. But all that changed when he signed up. “My cooking improved quickly,” he remembers, “and gradually I started to get compliments from the other guys. I think it was around that time, in the army, that I decided that I’d become a chef one day – and learn to cook at a culinary school upon being discharged.” Since graduating, before arriving at Elgin, he’s done everything from cooking airline meals to working in the kitchens of big hotels.

Chef Duy Dinh
“Food doesn’t just satisfy hunger, it also helps us to nourish the spirit!” – Duy Dinh

Time To Show Our Vision Of What Cuisine Can Be

“How would I describe this NOSH Young Guns series?” Okra’s Sy muses. “It’s a group of enthusiastic young chefs coming into collision with each other! I mean that in the best way possible – honestly, we’re really lucky to have this chance to switch kitchens and learn from each other and the reception from the guests at each event has been incredible so far.”

Like Khoa Tran, Sy realized early that this was the direction he wanted to take. “Maybe it was being surrounded by all that fresh seafood in Vung Tau, where I grew up,” he smiles.

Elgin's Khoa Tran
“Gradually I started to get compliments from the other guys in the army [for my cuisine].” – Khoa Tran

“I agree with Sy,” Duy, who only recently finished his residency at Que, smiles. “For me, this NOSH Young Guns series feels like a breath of fresh air for the industry. It’s us young chefs getting a chance to show our vision of what cuisine can be.”

Compared to the other chefs, who, except for Truong Hiep (who’s from Hue) are all local, Duy has had international experience. “So, I left Vietnam for the States at 17,” he recalls. There he became passionate about modern American cuisine, working under chefs like Seth Wells, at Washington DC’s Rose’s Luxury. “He’d always remind me of the same thing – ‘do not play games!’” Duy laughs. “But I guess I got my consistency and my grind from Seth.”

Okra's Sy Nguyen
Chef Sy from Okra: “Maybe it was being surrounded by all that fresh seafood in Vung Tau that got me here.”

“My brain won’t stop thinking about ingredients and recipes!”

“It’s true – this is about us getting our food out there,” The Jetty’s Truong Hiep adds. “We want more people to try the food we’re making and this series has helped us reach a much wider audience.”

Chef Duy and 2 other chefs
Chef Duy [centre] getting the guns out.

Like Khoa Tran, Hiep took the academic route, enrolling in a two-year course at Saigontourist Hospitality School. And, following that he embarked on a series of internships and entry-level positions at Villa Song, MAD House, Noir Dining, Marcel Gourmet Burger, and eventually, Quince Saigon. “Quince’s Chef Julien Perraudin has probably had the biggest impact on me as a chef,” Hiep says. “He really does have a wealth of knowledge about the industry that I’ve been able to access.”

“My brain won’t stop thinking about ingredients and recipes, and how to deliver them! I think we’re probably all similar that way,” Mùa Craft Sake’s Hoang Phuc nods as he looks round at Truong Hiep and the rest of the NOSH Young Guns. 

Chef Truong Hiep and chef Phuc
“My brain won’t stop thinking about ingredients and recipes, and how to deliver them!” Mùa Craft Sake’s Hoang Phuc [right] says.

Food As Self-Expression

Phuc was a self-confessed introvert before all this. “So, food became a way for me to express myself,” he explains. He’s aiming, he says, for an explosion of flavors, thanks to the inspirational chefs he’s worked with, like Tru Lang at Mùa Craft Sake. “He’s my teacher, my guide, and an undoubted inspiration,” Phuc smiles. 

And he and the other NOSH Young Guns Series chefs will have four more events in which to express themselves in this, the inaugural series of Young Guns events.

Related Posts

Champagne And Hugs As Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy Named World’s 50 Best Bars No.1
Happenings

Champagne And Hugs As Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy Named World’s 50 Best Bars No.1

"All my friends said, 'You'll f*cking die man, why would you go there?'" Eric Van Beek smiles at the...

by CP
7 December, 2024
Only Dead Fish Go With The Flow: How Some Of The World’s 50 Best Bars Have Taken An Original Path To Success
Happenings

Only Dead Fish Go With The Flow: How Some Of The World’s 50 Best Bars Have Taken An Original Path To Success

In a world of cookie-cutter cocktail bars with predictable concepts, the World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 showcased some revolutionaries...

by David Kaye
22 November, 2024
The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 Announced In Madrid
Happenings

The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 Announced In Madrid

Madrid transformed into the global capital of cocktail culture on 22nd October as the world's most prestigious bar awards...

by David Kaye
23 October, 2024
Some Undiluted Fun With The World’s 50 Best Bars’ Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Of The Year 2024 Iain McPhereson 
Happenings

Some Undiluted Fun With The World’s 50 Best Bars’ Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Of The Year 2024 Iain McPherson 

The World's 50 Best Bars' Altos Bartenders' Bartender 2024 Iain McPhereson takes is into the icy depths of the...

by David Kaye
5 November, 2024
Next Post
Cùng Vượt Qua Giới Hạn Với Vận Động Viên Thế Anh Tại Giải Chạy Marathon Quốc Tế Đà Nẵng Manulife 2023

Runner And Content Creator Thế Anh On The Joy (And Pain) Of Endurance Races

  • About
  • F&B Advertising In Vietnam And Southeast Asia
  • Creative Services
  • Careers
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Follow Us

Wink Hotels' The Dot Magazine is your insider guide to Vietnam with city guides, guest mixes, podcasts and more.

wink logoWink Hotels' is a new kind of Vietnamese hotel made for the modern traveler and ready to take on the world.

 See more about Wink

© 2024 The Dot Magazine is your bilingual insider guide to what to eat and drink in Vietnam and the region.

No Result
View All Result
  • English
  • Tiếng Việt
  • Guide
  • Culture
  • Travel
  • Brand Stories
  • News

© 2024 The Dot Magazine is your bilingual insider guide to what to eat and drink in Vietnam and the region.