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From street kids to culinary stars in Vietnam

by David Farley (RSS feed) on Apr 7th 2010 at 9:00AM

As I strode into the restaurant, relieved to take a brief respite from the chaos that is Saigon's streets, a warm smile greeted me. A young man, probably in his late teens, led me to a table and handed me a menu. There were fried pork ribs with lemongrass, ginger-braised chicken, steamed prawns in coconut juice. Not terribly surprising southeast Asian fare. But this was a surprisingly different restaurant.

People don't come to Vietnam to eat. At least not historically. They came for other reasons. The Khmer, the Chinese, the French, the Americans came to occupy, to settle, to pillage, to exploit, to push back, or various other things that didn't always sit well with the locals. And while they didn't come for the food, their influence on Vietnamese cuisine is now indelible. The Khmer influence can be seen-or, rather, tasted-in the south, the Chinese in the north, the French all over the place (banh mi, anyone?).

But, like a lot of people these days, I came to Vietnam to eat. And I ate everything I could that didn't previously bark. Including the wince-inducing stuff: rat, snake, pigs blood and various "other" parts of mammals. The Vietnamese are fiercely omnivorous and, like other southeast Asians, they don't waste much of a plant or animal.

And while I left thinking that I could spend a decade or so eating my way through the country-the steaming bowls of pho in the morning, street cart sticky rice flavored with exotic fruits, the sweet, caramelized clay pot dishes have left me dreaming for more long after I departed-there was something else that was tugging at me: namely the estimated 19,000 street kids in Vietnam.

And the restaurant I was eating at in Saigon was trying to do something about it. Welcome to Huong Lai, a pioneer of sorts, not because of the acclaimed food it serves, but because of the employees. They're all street kids, orphans whose first years of life were one of begging for money and sustenance.

Haong Lai isn't the only restaurant and training center in Vietnam to turn streets kids into culinary stars. Koto, in Hanoi, has been doing the same. There's also a similar school/restaurant in Cambodia. And they're not just learning how to prepare spring rolls. They're trained in cooking western dishes as well as other aspects of restaurant hospitality and they're taught English.

The latest to throw its toque into the kitchen is Streets International. Located in Hoi An, on the central coast of Vietnam, Streets was founded by Neal F. Bermas, a resident of Hoi An and New York City who teaches at New York University. The school and restaurant, located smack in the center of UNESCO-protected Hoi An, received donations from various international organizations as well as an annual charity event in New York City. Which was where I caught up with Bermas last week. While the attendees were munching on food from restaurants such as Blue Smoke, Cabrito, Tabla, and Colicchio & Sons, Bermas told me about that light bulb moment for Streets: "It was my first night in Saigon over a decade ago and I came across these streets kids. They had these dark yet beautifully compelling eyes. And as time went on, I just kept coming back to that image." Bermas hopes to expand the model to other parts of Vietnam and even southeast Asia.

Which got me wondering: what is it about southeast Asia, in general, and Vietnam, in particular, that has bred this great idea to deal with poverty? Bermas had an intriguing answer: "This model works particularly well in so-called developing countries when the tourism industry is just starting to take off." And in Vietnam it's doing just that. Tourism is up fifteen percent in the last few years. The economy grew last year by four percent, which is a lot considering most of the world's economic activity has slowed to a crawl.

Because Streets International is about a year old, no one has graduated from the 18-month training program yet. But the endeavor can already be called a success. Not just for taking a handful of kids off the streets. As Bermas told me last week, Nam Hai, the upscale resort on the coast near Hoi An, has said they would hire the entire first batch of trainees.

Now that's well worth tucking in to a bowl of steamed prawns in coconut juice during your next visit to Vietnam for.

David Farley is the author of An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church's Strangest Relic in Italy's Oddest Town.

Filed under: Food and Drink, Asia, Vietnam

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Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)

Charlie Tran Apr 11th 2010 1:44AM

Dear Mr. Nguyen

As a Vietnamese American I am ashame of your comments. Last I checked it was the Viet Cong who brought war to Vietnam. Talk to any of the thousands of people who endured dangerous journeys on boats to escape Vietnam and they will no doubt have a different view than that of yours. Talk to people like my father, uncle, and grandfather and they will tell you about the horrors they went through at the hand of the Viet Cong. I salute all of the brave vietnam vets who risk their lives to try to liberate my country. It's a shame that public opinion at home cause Nixon to pull troops out before the job could be completed. Mr. Nguyen should go back to Vietnam and speak your mind like you do here and see what happens to you when the gonvernment does not like what you say. You Say it was the Americans who cause Vietnam to be push back by years........that's just a bunch of BS. I smell a Viet Cong Rat in the house.

Cal4RCE Apr 11th 2010 2:22AM

I can't believe how disrespectful people are being to the American soldiers who lost their lives fighting for their country, and those who survived to have their lives altered forever. These kids went over there to serve their country, not because any of them had political agendas. No one is happy about what happened there; but Communism is scary. Anyone who is paying attention to politics in the U.S. today knows how much damage Communism can do - Obama's socialist health care plan is an awful mess, and the health of the country will suffer. We will no longer have the world's brightest and most skilled surgeons to save or prolong our lives. Do you really think the Communist rulers of Viet Nam care about the kids in the streets of Saigon ? Obviously not. RESPECT the people who gave their lives for FREEDOM and democracy.

mazzo Apr 11th 2010 4:11AM

The only thing that you ever dispatched in the millions was your own brain cells. The first step to recovery is to admit that you have a problem.

John Doe Apr 21st 2010 3:30PM

Mr. Nguyen,

You might be right that the Vietnamese did not need the Americans to liberate them; however, I wonder if Vietnam is any where near what it is today if the Americans have not been there in the first place. You see, that conflict opened the flood gate for millions of Southeast Asians into the US, and the rest is history.

NGUYEN Apr 11th 2010 10:30PM

Dear John Doe,
Actually, less than 1 million Vietnamese were allowed into the US since 1975 and almost all are very anti-Vietnam. If anything, they have helped the US economy more as they are giving extra efforts typical of any first generation immigrants.
During the early 1980's, Vietnamese Americans sent large sum of monies back to their relatives which in turn, may have given the Vietnamese economy a little boost ... but remember Vietnam has 98 millions people therefore, most of the work must be done by the Vietnamese in Vietnam.
Recently, international communities and businesses have engaged and helped Vietnam grow including some of their former enemies: French, China, Japan... the US is quite behind.