Located at 56 Duong Van An Street, Dong Hoi Ward, Genkan Vegan Chay attracts a stable customer base - Photo: TA
The Journey of Healing and the Decision to Return Home
On the bustling street of Duong Van An, Dong Hoi ward, Genkan Vegan Chay is located modestly but no less attractive. Among the bustling shops and colorful signs, Genkan appears with a warm, gentle color scheme like a deliberate pause in the bustling harmony of the city.
In that small shop, Nguyen Thi Hoang Lan still regularly starts her day with seemingly trivial tasks: wiping each chopstick and spoon, adjusting the tablecloth, watering each small potted plant placed by the window. Not because of a lack of help, but because for Lan, every detail in the shop must be taken care of by hand, just like the way she preserves the delicacy and neatness in the smallest things.
Without a big sign or a loud marketing strategy, Genkan still quietly attracts a specific customer base: young people who live slowly, people who have struggled with their health, and those who first entered the vegan world out of curiosity, then stayed because of the feeling of peace. At Genkan, people not only find clean food and authentic coffee, but also clearly feel the sophistication, gentleness and depth. That is how Nguyen Thi Hoang Lan chose to start a business - not noisy but persistent, not appealing to tastes but touching values.
At the age of 30, many people will choose stability, especially when living and working in Ho Chi Minh City, a vibrant place with many opportunities and good income. But Hoang Lan stepped out of that "safe zone", decided to return to her homeland to start a business and opened a vegan restaurant - cafe Genkan Vegan Chay in August 2022. Outsiders may call it a "bold turning point", but for Lan, it is the result of a journey to find "healing" for body - mind - spirit.
At Genkan Vegan Chay, customers not only find clean food and authentic coffee, but also clearly feel the sophistication, gentleness and depth - Photo: TA
Sharing about her chance to come to vegan food, Lan said: “It sounds funny, but nearly 10 years ago, I didn’t dare to leave the house because my skin had acne all year round. Even though I tried everything, even spent tens of millions of dong, it still didn’t improve. Every time I looked in the mirror, I was disappointed.”
By chance, at the end of 2019, Lan met a few vegetarians. They surprised her not only with their youthful appearance, but also with the peace and kindness radiating from their life energy. And the seemingly simple question: "Why don't I try being vegetarian for a while?" opened a new chapter in the life of this brave Quang Tri girl.
From then on, Lan began her journey of strict veganism. After exactly 28 days, her skin was completely regenerated and healed; her health, psychology, and life energy also changed positively. “Being vegetarian helps me save time, money, and gives me more motivation to take care of myself. I feel much lighter, more peaceful, and happier. And then, I asked myself, why don’t I share this wonderful thing with others. From that thought, the “seed” for Genkan began to sprout,” Lan said with a smile.
“ Among many highly commercial ideas, Nguyen Thi Hoang Lan’s “Chay an lan - sowing green seeds” project stands out for its approach rich in humanistic values and its own unique path. Not only does it demonstrate a profound entrepreneurial mindset, the project also strongly inspires a young generation who dares to start from kind and sustainable values, with all the meticulousness, steadfastness and enthusiasm. For us, this is a project that is worthy of respect both in spirit and development potential,” said Mr. Phan Trung Thong, Director of TOPFA Vietnam Joint Stock Company, a member of the Jury of the 2025 Creative Startup Competition. |
Starting from sustainable values
At the time Genkan Vegan Chay was born, there was almost no true vegan restaurant - cafe model in Dong Hoi. For many people, veganism (not using any animal products, such as: eggs, milk, honey, butter...) was still strange, even considered difficult to eat, lacking in nutrition. Lan understood that, but she believed that, if done properly, vegan dishes could be delicious, beautiful, nutritious and good for health. From there, Genkan was built as a model combining a vegan restaurant and a modern, open-space cafe, friendly to young people, freelancers, people who love green living and even those who have been vegetarians for many years.
Hoang Lan takes care of every corner of the shop - Photo: TA
The menu at Genkan is designed to be healthy, nutritious, low in fat, and optimizes the nutritional value of vegetables, seeds, and plant proteins. Each dish is not just food, but also an inspirational message about a healthy, mindful lifestyle. With the name Genkan, a Japanese word that refers to the transitional space between the outside and the inside, Lan wants customers to feel this place as a "threshold" to enter a state of tranquility, purity, and healing.
Not stopping at serving food, Lan is building Genkan into a community brand; aiming to expand cooperation with travel companies to develop a healing tourism model. Further, Lan dreams of establishing a vegetarian culinary center and franchising Genkan as a leading brand of vegan cuisine in the Central region.
Those aspirations were “listened to”. Genkan Vegan Chay, representing Lan’s startup project, conquered the judges of the 2025 Creative Startup Competition organized by the Provincial Youth Union and excellently won the first prize in the youth startup category.
Not following trends, nor choosing the easy path, Hoang Lan has quietly proven that starting a business does not necessarily have to start with grandiose ideas, but can be sparked from a choice to live deeply enough, durable enough, and humane enough.
Genkan Vegan Chay is not just a restaurant, a cafe or a business project, it is a “door” for like-minded people to find themselves, to slow down, eat healthier and appreciate the value of a healthy body and a happy soul. And perhaps, in an increasingly rushed world, choosing to slow down to do the right thing, to be beautiful, to do things from the heart is also a form of sustainable success, like what that young girl did with Genkan Vegan Chay.
Peace of Mind
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/chay-an-lanh-geo-mam-xanh-195945.htm
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