Vegetarian restaurant chain of a guy from Quang Nam

Nguyen Thai Lam (left) comes to children in the highlands on charity trips with gifts within his means - Photo: L.D.L.

The guy from Quang Nam decided to go to Japan, work in his field in a company in Tokyo with a three-year contract. Having saved a little capital, Thai Lam returned to Saigon to find a place to open the vegetarian restaurant "Here and Now", starting the path to realizing his cherished dream.

If you are vegetarian for the environment and your health, choose vegetarian dishes that are delicate, not too oily, and do not contain sugar or MSG. Eating vegetarian regularly or changing your diet for a few days each month is a way to purify your body and soul.

NGUYEN THAI LAM

Vegetarian - green living

The question Lam receives the most is "Why did you study mechanical engineering to start a career in cooking, opening a restaurant, even a vegetarian restaurant?". Every time like that, Lam often laughs. "Actually, when I took the university entrance exam and chose Polytechnic, I thought that was the job I would pursue, but deep down, it's not the job I like the most," he confided.

As a student, Lam participated in running a charity group. That group was "Love Steps", which often shared charity gifts with the needy, especially in the West, where Lam was one of the active members and was assigned many important tasks by the group leader. This group of young people later opened a vegetarian restaurant for students on D2 Street, near Hang Xanh (Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City), selling for 8,000 VND/portion, with full meals.

Being assigned to manage that vegetarian restaurant, being constantly exposed to the smell of food until it became addictive, awakened the passion for cooking of the mechanical engineering student at that time. From then on, Lam decided to choose to be a vegetarian. Lam said: "I learned quite a lot about vegetarianism, if you eat properly, you will not lack nutrients. Many people in the world choose to be vegetarian because they want to live close to plants, following the spirit of green living, limiting killing."

Realizing the increasingly popular eating trend in modern society, he thought of building a chain of vegetarian restaurants but with a youthful, friendly style. After researching, Lam temporarily imagined that Saigon had no shortage of vegetarian restaurants, but many places often chose to cook fast food, greasy food and used a lot of sugar. He chose to cook in the direction of eating pure, clean food, with little oil and no sugar.

Keeping his promise to himself, after earning enough money after his time in the cherry blossom country, Lam returned to Saigon to find a place to open a shop. It must be said that at first it was extremely difficult because he had not found a satisfactory location. After nearly a month of searching, Lam finally "finalized" the location of his first shop on Nguyen Cong Hoan Street (Binh Thanh District).

Conquer diners

Opening a restaurant is not difficult, but how to attract customers. Besides investing in a comfortable space and attentive service, the decisive factor must be the food. After exploring and eating at many other vegetarian restaurants, Lam began to explore and create her own menu.

These are dishes with hometown flavors such as Quang noodles, Hue noodles, combined with Thai-style food such as pad Thai, or Japanese-style miso noodles... Just cook, adjust, and season until you feel satisfied and satisfied. So there are vegetarian dishes according to "Nguyen Thai Lam's recipe" that he confidently said are only available at his restaurant chain.

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Lam's journey of more than eight years up to now is the vegetarian restaurant and coffee chain with the name "Here and Now" choosing a quiet, nostalgic and very meditative space design with many locations in Ho Chi Minh City. Paying attention to ensure the quality of the dishes, the owner often cooks himself to adjust and adjust the flavor of each dish for customers. He also designs everything in the restaurant, creates dishes, manages the website, writes articles, makes pictures...

"A little bit every day" is how Lam keeps his fire burning. Even during the most difficult period due to COVID-19, the shop had to close but still paid rent and salaries to permanent employees, but he still did not give up. On that journey, Lam always had relatives and friends by his side to share and sincerely support him.

It is not too difficult to find one of Lam's shops in many places in Saigon. And perhaps it is not too strange to see many foreigners or young people coming here, chatting in a peaceful enough space, while enjoying some strange dishes made only of vegetables and fruits but with strong flavors.

Asked about the difficulties of the journey to pursue creating her own vegetarian brand, Thai Lam smiled and said lightly: "I want to live fully with my passion, want to share the health benefits of vegetarianism with the plant-based food community, so just do what feels healthy and fun."

For Lam, the model he is pursuing is a form of "green startup" because it encourages many people to be vegetarian, contributing to protecting the environment... He believes that if "Here and Now" can touch people's hearts, it is the contribution of many colleagues whom he always appreciates, is grateful for and gives all favors to because they have accompanied him, whether for a short or long distance.

If there is profit, do charity.

Perhaps because of the wholesomeness and care in each vegetarian dish that Lam puts all his attention into each time he prepares, many diners have come, enjoyed it and gradually become regulars. Many young customers who come to eat say, "It turns out vegetarian food is also delicious," which gives the owner even more motivation and reason to stick around.

Another thought that Nguyen Thai Lam had when pursuing his dream of opening a vegetarian restaurant was to save up the profits for charity. So whenever he could save up and arrange his time, he would go to poor children and give small gifts within his means.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chuoi-nha-hang-chay-cua-chang-trai-xu-quang-2023020900020276.htm