Vietnamese-Australian restaurateur named Vietnam Airlines’ culinary ambassador

The chef will be in charge of making various signature Vietnamese dishes for passengers of Vietnam’s national flag carrier

Photo credit: Vietnam Airlines

A Vietnamese-Australian chef and restaurateur has been chosen as a ‘culinary ambassador’ of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.

The carrier and Luke Nguyen signed a contract during a ceremony in Australia on Friday, witnessed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc who is on a March 14 to 18 official visit to the country.

The 39-year-old chef will be responsible for making eight signature dishes typical for the northern, central, and southern Vietnam, to be served on Vietnam Airlines flight, according to the contract.

Nguyen will also provide consultancy for 50 in-flight menus for business-class passengers for services in 2018.

“As a national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines always works to make people around the world to know about various cultural values of the country,” the carrier’s deputy general director Le Hong Ha said.

“Through this particular collaboration, Vietnam Airlines and Luke Nguyen would like to elevate Vietnamese dishes to an art form respected by others and make them a cultural bridge between foreigners and the country.”

Luke Nguyen was born into an immigrant Vietnamese family who has been running a small restaurant in Cabramatta, a suburb in south-western Sydney, Australia.

After finishing his study in hospitality management and gaining certain amount of experience working in several restaurants in Sydney, Luke began his career as a restaurateur when he turned 23 with his own eatery named “Red Lantern” in the capital city of New South Wales.

“Red Lantern” was voted the best Asian eatery in Sydney in three consecutive years from 2014 to 2016.

Luke Nguyen currently operates eight restaurants under his franchise in Sydney, Brisbane, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

By: Minh Nhien