On a quiet Monday morning at a café in Thao Dien, the so-called "western" area of Saigon, I arrived a bit ahead of schedule for my morning chat with Duy Nguyen, the 26-year-old chef of Little Bear and a Young Chef Award winner from the MICHELIN Guide Vietnam 2024 edition.
A tall, skinny figure in a greyish-green outfit approached. His style, though casual, carried a subtle flair—much like his cooking: effortless yet impactful, though he probably didn’t realise it. Duy Nguyen wore thick glasses and had a slightly shy demeanour as he quietly said, "Hello."
It was Nguyen’s day off, but he had kindly taken some time to meet. I asked him what he had wanted to be when he was young, and with a cheeky smile, the 26-year-old replied, “How young is young?” We both laughed.
“When I was 13, I wanted to be a fitness model,” he answered. When asked why, he admitted, “I don’t really know. Now I just lift pots and pans.”
“We aim to draw young people who are curious about food but still want a relaxed vibe. You know, where the food is tight, but the vibe is easygoing.”
Nguyen began lifting weights early, which led him to the kitchen to experiment with creating high-protein meals. It wasn’t until he was 17 that he realised his true passion lay not in iron bars and kettlebells but in pots and pans.
At 16, he moved with his mother from Saigon to Virginia, seeking a fresh start. Arriving in the U.S. in 2015 with barely any English, the young Saigonese spent eight transformative years there. It was during high school that his culinary passion ignited—through a cooking class and working as a waiter at a busy buffet. Exploring local markets and cooking at home, he quickly discovered his true love for cooking.
“It started with my parents,” he revealed. “They used to cook at home, and they were seafood suppliers back in the '90s. They’d go to the sea to get seafood and bring it back to sell in the city. This exposed them to a lot of different foods, which they tried to replicate at home.” Their constant experimentation with recipes sparked his interest, alongside his love for eating and fascination with trying different dishes, reminiscent of Mukbang.
But Nguyen started his culinary career far from seafood. He began by making toast at a coffee shop while still in high school in the States. He juggled full-time and part-time roles at different restaurants. After high school, he applied to Rose’s Luxury, a MICHELIN-Star contemporary restaurant, but didn’t land the job. After seven months of working at the now-closed Bib Gourmand restaurant, he took a two-month trip back to Vietnam before returning to the States, where he successfully worked at Rose’s Luxury at 19.
“The U.S. makes you hustle,” Nguyen admitted. “I didn’t go to culinary school, and my English wasn’t great. I knew that working at MICHELIN-Starred places would push me to learn more.” Reflecting on his mentors, he said, “Chef Seth Wells, the head chef of Rose's Luxury, Aaron Silverman, and Samuel Meoño, have been great influences. They have shaped my culinary approach and career.”
I desperately needed to know what brought the young Vietnamese chef back to Nam. “I came back to find Vietnamese flavour,” he shared. “I didn’t really know enough about our cuisine. I had been doing pop-ups in the U.S., but my Vietnamese food wasn’t really ‘real’—it was based on memory and what I saw on the internet—not on my taste. So I had to come back to find it again.”
Nguyen ran a pop-up at Que-Kaarem, a creative space, with a friend who also returned from Australia for the same purpose. This experience helped him refine his approach and deepen his understanding of Vietnamese cuisine.
Of course, COVID changed our lives, but for the young cook, it was monumental, as it was when he met a man named Long Tran.
"I started selling cookbooks to Vietnam because no one was selling cookbooks from the States there," he recalled. "But I did it to connect with more people and support them. I was just hustling, messaging everyone like, 'Hey, I’ve got these cookbooks.' I didn’t realise Long was such a big name," he admits. "I asked him, 'You’re in Singapore? And you’re Vietnamese?' That’s when he shared his story with me," he adds, referring to the young founder of Little Bear, who also established a MICHELIN-Starred restaurant in Hanoi and Singapore.
Little Bear began as an idea between Long and Nguyen. "I told Long we should open a restaurant one day," Nguyen recalled, "and he said, 'No, we do it now.' At the time, Nguyen felt he needed more experience. "Long told me, 'You can still learn in your restaurant. I’ll help you with collaborations so that you can learn from them.' That gave me the confidence to give it a try," Nguyen reflected, thinking back on the leap that led to the birth of Little Bear.
“My Vietnamese food wasn’t really ‘real’—it was based on memory and what I saw on the internet—not on my taste. So I had to come back to find it again.”
So, why Little Bear? "Back in the US, when I was 19, I kept running around the restaurant. My sous chef would shout, 'Hey, Little Bear, stop running!' Then everyone started calling me Lil Bear because of the Little Bear cartoon." Interestingly, Nguyen was clueless about the show at the time.
"The kid in the cartoon is annoying. I was annoying back then, too—young, full of energy, running around like a loud little Vietnamese kid."
Nguyen explained the concept behind the trendy and popular eatery Little Bear, saying, "I started in New York and went to some bars. I liked the freedom there—people were loud and talking comfortably. Not formal. And I thought Vietnam needed that in restaurants." He continues, "A lot of people are trying to do fine dining, but I don’t think everything has to be fine dining. I wanted to bring something easygoing for guests, and that’s what Little Bear tries to do," he said, sipping his fresh coffee.
Haven’t had the chance to visit the buzzworthy Little Bear yet? He summed it up in three words: “Creative, locally sourced, Vietnamese-inspired.”
"Fine dining, to me, is more ceremonial and formal. You don't need to save up for a special occasion [at Little Bear]. It’s a good wine bar with amazing food that you can come to any time," he added. He also noted that he felt people are growing tired of long, four-hour meals with detailed explanations. "We aim to draw young people who are curious about food but still want a relaxed vibe. You know, where the food is tight, but the vibe is easygoing."
Like many in his generation, Nguyen honed his craft not in a traditional kitchen but, in fact, through YouTube. “I learned a lot from YouTube,” he said. “In Vietnam, YouTube has a lot of cooking content. They even go to the countryside and cook with wood fire—very rustic. I try to incorporate some of those details into my food. Not necessarily the way they cook, but small things like using fire or adding a little something to make the dish different. That’s the key.”
With a focus on Vietnamese cuisine and the support of a trusted team member, Nguyen reconnects with traditional flavours while crafting the menu. “I had to change a lot, with the help of Hiep Truong, my co-head-chef. He’s 29 now, with over ten years of restaurant experience. I’m 26, so we talk a lot, eat in the streets, and exchange ideas. Together, we build the recipes at Little Bear.”
Nguyen notes that locals approach his food with an open mind. “Young people bring their parents, and they love it too. They say it's creative, well-presented, and enjoyable for all generations.” Winning their approval, he admits, is both challenging and rewarding: “It's the hardest part but also the best compliment I’ve ever received.”
We discussed the recent MICHELIN Guide Ceremony, where Nguyen was awarded the MICHELIN Guide Young Chef Award 2024. “I was completely taken by surprise. I thought, ‘Sh*t, really!? Me? Why me?’ I was nervous and shaking when Chef Sam Tran, the previous winner, handed me the award, but I felt honoured and grateful for my team. I wanted to say something about them, but I was left speechless until the emcee came to my rescue.”
Reflecting on his culinary journey, he shared his biggest takeaway from the kitchen: “Stay humble. Listen to everyone. Ask plenty of questions. Respect others. Find your mentor. And don’t just hop from place to place. If you’re still young and passionate about cooking, just focus on honing your skills.”
Nguyen also mentioned the words of wisdom from his partner and mentor, Long: "Long always told me, 'Don't choose the easy way with yourself. Don't cheat. Don't please yourself that easily.' Every week, he sends me a motivational video. It’s actually so funny."
With a grin, he added, “We even have these crucial three D’s in the back of the house at our restaurant: ‘Dedication, determination, and discipline.’”
Before we continued with our Monday, Nguyen shared his plans to take a journey through Vietnam, a land he feels he has yet to fully uncover. With a yearning for deeper understanding and richer experiences, he acknowledges the roads not yet travelled and the culinary stories still waiting to be discovered.
I finally asked if he had found the true Vietnamese flavour he was searching for. He paused thoughtfully.
"Only 15 per cent. There's still so much more. And still a lot to learn. I have a long way to go to find what I'm actually looking for."
Illustration image: © MICHELIN Guide Vietnam
