The owner of a chain of restaurants across 3 regions longs to explore the cuisine of 54 ethnic groups1

Dao Thuy Linh started her business with a small restaurant specializing in frogs. She said the culinary culture of 54 ethnic groups is rich, not everyone knows about it and she has a desire to share about it.

Dao Thuy Linh (second from right) experiences making a-yoh cake with the Bru - Van Kieu ethnic people in Quang Tri province - Photo: NVCC

Currently the owner of a restaurant chain present in three regions, Thuy Linh still spends time traveling across the country to cook, eat and, most of all, is eager to find the quintessential cooking "secrets" of the ethnic groups.

Go, explore and learn good things.

The restaurant chain, as the owner said, even when it is very crowded, being praised for its delicious food still seems to make her feel unsatisfied. With nearly 20 years of experience in the kitchen and having experienced cuisine in more than 50 countries, Linh admits, "Food is something that attracts me immensely."

What the young owner still feels is not enough is that although she has had the opportunity to visit many places in the world, "not having tasted and learned all about the cuisine of the 54 ethnic groups in the country is still something that makes me worry." That is also the reason why Linh is determined to start this very special culinary journey.

Since mid-2023, Thuy Linh has started with a trip to learn about the Khmer and Cham communities (An Giang province). The journey continued with the Cho Ro community (Dong Nai province), Stieng (former Binh Phuoc province), and Chinese people in the Cho Lon area (HCMC). The restaurant owner has visited the Ba Na ethnic community (Gia Lai province), E De (Dak Lak province), Brau (former Kon Tum province), Co and Co Tu (Quang Ngai province), Ta Oi (Hue city) and Bru - Van Kieu (Quang Tri province)...

The entire trip was a personal project that Linh paid for herself, arranging convenient times for each trip. Before leaving, she contacted and got acquainted with people to ask for permission to visit, learn about them, and share her intentions.

Up to now, she has had the opportunity to eat and learn about the cuisine of more than 20 different ethnic communities. "The furthest is only the Central region, so that journey will certainly continue until we have visited all 54 ethnic groups," Linh smiled.

I choose ingredients from this ethnic group and combine them with the cooking methods of another ethnic group to create dishes with my own cooking spirit, of course it must be suitable to the habits and culinary style of the diners I am serving.

DAO THUY LINH

Want to spread national beauty

Although managing and operating the restaurant chain is quite busy, Linh always arranges to stay as long as possible on each trip to an ethnic community. She said she is drawn in because each place she visits always has so many new and interesting things because there are so many spices, delicious dishes, and unique cooking methods that she has never known before.

Linh said that thanks to her travels, she learned that wild lemongrass seeds have an even stronger essential oil and scent than the lemongrass she usually uses. She has collected many new ingredients and recipes, and has added new dishes to the restaurant after each trip.

"That is the best thing I have collected, mixed from ingredients, processing methods, and seasonings of many different regions and ethnic groups. For example, the hand-pounded frog sausage dish was inspired by the Khmer community and the processing methods of many other places. It is currently the best-selling dish in my place," Linh shared.

But not just cooking, each trip is a journey of experience going to the forest, farming, eating and sleeping with the locals. All are recorded and shared on social networks. It is quite surprising that more than 20 clips of her culinary journey are loved by many people, including many friends from many countries who have known Linh since studying abroad in Singapore.

"Some people urged me and texted me when they saw that I hadn't shared a new clip for a long time. There were also many people who promised to come to Vietnam and wanted to join me on this culinary discovery journey," Linh boasted.

Recruiting ethnic minority children to work

Sometimes, the hardships in a certain area held Linh back, making the trip longer than expected. At that time, the owner of the Ech Xanh restaurant chain would personally cook meals for local children.

Quite special is that from these trips, there are more than a dozen employees currently working at the restaurant who are children of some ethnic communities directly recruited by Linh. Some of them are also holding key management roles at some of the restaurant chain's locations.

There are also students who had to drop out of school because their family was too poor, but after working at the restaurant for a while, they have now returned to school with their own salary and some extra support from the young owner.

Study abroad and start a business back home

Dao Thuy Linh was once opposed by her family when she studied abroad and had a stable job with a high salary in Singapore, but suddenly decided to return home to rent a space to open a restaurant. Capital, experience, ideas and many other reasons made no one in her family support her.

But she said she wanted to make her own and immediately thought of frog meat, which is considered a "half chicken, half fish" food with high nutritional content but not many people sell it at that time. There is also a reason because Singapore frog porridge is still quite attractive to food lovers over time.

The first restaurant was established with a savings of 100 million VND, and was quite deserted because it had no brand, so it was not easy to attract customers to enjoy the rustic dishes. At that time, when it was too quiet, the owner went to several buildings and high-rise buildings in the city center to distribute flyers to promote herself.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Linh was forced to close the shop, return almost all of the premises, even sell and mortgage assets to maintain and then restore the shop. Serving, waiting tables and also parking, there is no job she has not touched. And from a small restaurant to now, Linh has a chain of dozens of restaurants in all three regions of the country.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/co-chu-chuoi-nha-hang-khap-3-mien-khat-khao-kham-pha-am-thuc-54-dan-toc-20250914082007116.htm