A Vietnamese favourite of Anthony Bourdain’s, The (real) Lunch Lady comes to Vancouver, from June 28
Nguyễn Thi Thanh’s food stall in Ho Chi Minh City was featured on No Reservations – and now, two years later, she is finally coming to see the local restaurant that is carrying on her legacy
Nguyễn Thi Thanh. Photo by Niko Myyra
ANTHONY BOURDAIN LOVED Vietnam. The late globe-trotting chef, author, and travel documentarian once said of the country: “It grabs you and doesn’t let you go. Once you love it, you love it forever.”
One of the places Bourdain ate at during his time there was a plain, small stall with two metal tables and low plastic chairs in crowded alleyway in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) run by a woman named Nguyễn Thi Thanh. He covered it on Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, summing up her soups this way: “It’s like discovering new neighbourhoods every few mouthfuls.”
At the time, the eatery was simply known as “the restaurant”. In 2009, during a conversation between Bourdain told Thanh over bún mắm, a fermented-seafood vermicelli soup, he told her, “I have given you a name – The Lunch Lady”. It stuck, and Thanh’s little place has gone on to gain more and more recognition ever since.
So what’s the Vancouver connection?
Local restaurateur Michael Tran looked to Bourdain for inspiration when he was researching his first trip to Vietnam, where his parents are from, several years ago; he wanted to visit the nation to learn more about his family roots and culture. Tran watched every related episode of No Reservations leading up to his travels, and, in 2012, went to each eatery that Bourdain mentioned. At The Lunch Lady, Tran ordered bún bò huế, a spicy beef noodle soup piled high with fresh herbs.
It was love at first slurp.
Nguyễn Thi Thanh. Photo by Niko Myyra
Tran, who runs Pacific Poke, which has several locations throughout Metro Vancouver, grew up in the restaurant industry. His mom, Victoria—who immigrated to Saskatchewan from Ho Chi Minh City at 15, along with her parents and 10 siblings—ran East Vancouver’s former Mekong Restaurant and later opened Five Elements Café, a now-defunct Vietnamese and Thai eatery.
Tran returned to Vietnam several times after that first visit, eating at The Lunch Lady every time. When he went in 2018, Thanh showed him a copy of her cookbook. He fell in love with the food and all it represented to him all over again.
He came up with a wild idea: to bring The Lunch Lady—the restaurant—to Vancouver. Tran and his mom travelled to Ho Chi Minh City together to ask Thanh what she thought. She was so excited and overwhelmed she burst into tears.
With chef Benedict Lim onboard, The Lunch Lady opened in the former home of Five Elements Café (and Tony’s Deli before that) at 1046 Commercial Drive in 2020 at the peak of the pandemic. On the menu are items like crispy spring rolls and prawn fritters, truffle chicken slaw, lemongrass chicken vermicelli, pho, pork skewers, clams teamed in lemongrass broth and chilis or coconut cream, and many more, The dream was always to bring Thanh over to see it for herself and to do a stint as a guest chef, but COVID-19 ransacked those plans—until now.
Nguyễn Thi Thanh. Photo by Niko Myyra
To Celebrate The Lunch Lady Vancouver’s second anniversary, Thanh is here.
She and Lim have designed a special six-course dinner experience that will be available from July 1 to 3, at two different times: 5:30 pm and 8 pm. (As spots are limited, people are encouraged to purchase tickets via OpenTable.) Thanh’s recipe books will be available for purchase and signing during the event.
The menu features Thanh’s famous bún mắm, made with tiger prawns, Spanish baby octopus, and Pacific lingcod, and wagyu lúc lắc, an elevated take on her signature beef dish, among other items that give the original Lunch Lady’s traditional cooking style a localized, haute-cuisine twist.
Thanh will also be on-site throughout the summer. From June 28 onward, she is slated to be at the restaurant Tuesdays to Fridays from 12 pm to 3 pm and 6 pm to 8 pm. Books and book signings will be on offer during those times as well.
For more information, see The Lunch Lady.
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