Taco shop in Hanoi owned by a French man

Opening a French tacos shop in Hanoi in 2018, Julien Sanchez was one of the first to bring this type of cake to Vietnam.

French tacos are different from traditional Mexican tacos, despite their similar names. According to The New Yorker, French tacos were invented in the early 21st century in the Rhône-Alpes region.

French tacos use a tortilla shell (a thin, round, flat, made from flour or corn flour, originating from Mexico), and the filling is made from meat, vegetables, chips and sauce. This is also the basic ingredient of a Mexican taco, the only difference is that French tacos are tightly rolled while Mexican tacos are like open sandwiches. In terms of appearance, French tacos look more like Mexican tortillas. This similarity has also caused a lot of controversy, especially with Mexicans when they think there is "cultural appropriation" - according to The New Yorker .

Julien Sanchez (pictured) came to Vietnam in 2016 and came up with the idea of selling French tacos after meeting his wife in 2017.

The biggest initial challenge was introducing customers to what French tacos were, as even French people who were not close to Lyon sometimes did not know about their existence.

Julien said he first tried French tacos in middle school. Where he lived, tacos were a snack, made mostly from industrial ingredients, cheap and easy to find.

Julien named the shop Hey Pelo with the first location in Tay Ho district. The word "pelo" is Lyon slang for "guy".

Initially, his target customers were foreigners. However, after a short time, the store quickly attracted Vietnamese customers. From a store with only Julien and his wife in the kitchen, they developed two more branches with 15 employees each.

Pictured is the shop in Ba Dinh. At lunchtime, the shop has hundreds of orders - mostly take-out or delivery. Many customers have to wait a long time. In the evening, two floors of the shop are packed with customers.

During peak times, Julien and the store manager have to go into the kitchen to assist the staff.

The shop's cakes come in five sizes, from XS to L, priced between 75,000 and 350,000 VND each. According to Julien, the biggest one is the size of an arm, weighing about 4 kg. For young people with an average appetite, a size S portion is reasonable, priced at about 130,000 VND. Each cake is personalized from the size to the filling. For vegetables, customers have four options such as onions, tomatoes, lettuce or tomato sauce. For meat, the shop also has 6 options including beef and chicken.

To order, customers will follow the steps of choosing the size, vegetables, meat, sauce and optional side dishes such as pineapple, olives, and cheeses. The choices of vegetables, meat and sauce are included in the price, the optional side dishes need to be paid extra, ranging from 25,000 - 30,000 VND.

Once selected, the staff will put the ingredients into the tortilla shell and put it in the toaster. Each tortilla takes about 15-20 minutes to complete, including the baking time.

Julien said that in France, the tortilla was created in a suburb with many immigrants, so it was mainly aimed at workers who needed to eat quickly and be full. However, Julien noticed that in Vietnam, fresh and clean ingredients are abundant. Vegetables are imported from the store's own suppliers, always ensuring freshness. The tortilla shells are also produced in a separate facility and the sauces are handmade.

“In addition to ensuring quality, this is also a way to support the local economy ,” Julien said.

Julien rolls the cake tightly before putting it in the oven. He said that at first, there were only four sizes of cakes: S, M, L and XL. However, as the number of Vietnamese customers increased, many complained that the S size was still too big for one person to eat. Therefore, Julien decided to make an XS size and agreed to cut the cake in half from the S size. Julien said that cutting the cake only appeared in Vietnam.

The cakes are put into the toaster.

The cake is wrapped in foil to keep it warm even when taken away. In the picture is a size S cake, priced at 130,000 VND. Hoai Thuong, who lives in Thanh Xuan district, commented that the filling is plentiful, ordering size S is enough for two people. She likes the taste of minced beef and the shop's special cheese sauce. The cake crust is soft and tightly rolled so it stays hot. "The downside is that the waiting time is quite long, and even though the cake is tightly rolled, the filling can easily fall out when eaten. The taste is quite good but you can't eat it several times a week like bread because it's fatty and the price is quite high," she said.