Once shining shoes and sleeping under a bridge in Hanoi, two friends now own a popular pizza restaurant

Duong and Thai used to be shoe shiners, living on the sidewalks, under bridges and in "drug addict slums" along the Red River in Hanoi, but now their lives have changed.

Editor's note:

They had a difficult childhood but rose up with determination, becoming influential people in society, university students, restaurant owners, company directors, etc. After "changing their lives", they created jobs, taught vocational skills, and helped people in difficult circumstances like themselves in the past.

VietNamNet respectfully introduces the series of articles " Life-changing journey" of shoe shine children . We invite readers to follow and share more about other examples of success in overcoming adversity.

“‘Just keep going. One day, the dough will rise and the pizza will be done,’” Duong said every day while I was searching for a recipe for homemade, naturally fermented pizza.

For 2 years, I can't remember how many kilos of flour were spoiled, how many cakes failed. If Duong hadn't been there to encourage me, I think I would have given up," Dang Van Thai said about his close friend Tran Van Duong.

They used to be shoe shiners, wandering around the streets of Hanoi , sharing sandwiches and 1,000-2,000 VND street food meals without meat or fish.

"We have been together for 34 years, through the most difficult times. That day, I said my dream was to become a director. Everyone laughed, thinking it was a fantasy, unrealistic. Only Thai believed me.

And in fact, we became the owners of a pizza restaurant. We were ready to open our own pizza chain," Duong shared.

Mr. Duong (blue shirt) and Mr. Thai have been together for 34 years.

During the nearly 3 hours of conversation with VietNamNet reporters , Mr. Duong and Mr. Thai occasionally asked for permission to pause.

That is when the restaurant receives a new cake order, even though there are kitchen staff, Mr. Thai still directly checks the finished product before packaging and shipping. Just by looking at the puffiness of the edges and the flow of the cheese, the chef knows whether the cake meets the requirements or not.

As for Mr. Duong, sometimes he has to pause the conversation to welcome foreign guests or handle urgent paperwork for his staff. He uses English fluently and confidently.

Mr. Thai introduces to guests the most special dishes in the restaurant.

From the countryside to the city to shine shoes and sell newspapers

Mr. Duong and Mr. Thai, both born in 1986, are neighbors, born in the poor countryside of Nguyen Ly commune, Ly Nhan district, Ha Nam (now Nam Xang commune, Ninh Binh province).

After finishing primary school, due to poor academic performance and his family being too poor, Mr. Duong followed a relative to Hanoi to shine shoes and sell newspapers.

"Every day, I wandered around the streets, shining shoes for 1,500-2,000 VND/pair, and at night I rented a place to sleep at a motel for 1,500 VND/night. Dozens of children shared a room, on rickety beds. On days when I didn't have money, I slept on the sidewalk, under the bridge," said Mr. Duong.

Every afternoon, on the way back to the "slum", passing by a river and bamboo bushes similar to his hometown, Mr. Duong missed his mother terribly. But in those days, traveling was expensive, so he only visited his mother every few months, bringing with him the money he earned from shining shoes to help her.

Due to his family's difficult circumstances, Thai followed his brother-in-law to Hanoi to shine shoes at Hang Co train station. However, being small and timid, every day the boy was bullied by older shoe shiners, who stole his money, and sometimes even beat him up.

Hearing that Duong was living under Long Bien bridge, Thai walked to find his friend. "Luckily, I found Duong. We moved in together and worked together, taking care of each other," Thai said.

They and a few other kids formed a group. In the winter, the group shined shoes, and in the summer they sold newspapers, CDs, and postcards to Western customers.

In the years 1998-2000, in poor working-class neighborhoods, drug abuse and theft were very complicated.

"At that time, as long as we didn't get addicted, we were already successful. At one point, another group of friends invited me to join in stealing from rich people's houses in Hanoi. But luckily, I was sober enough not to be tempted by greed and Thai was always there to remind me," said Mr. Duong.

Mr. Duong and Mr. Thai in their youth

Special shoe shine guest

The poor, endless life seemed to continue forever, until one day, Thai met a special guest.

It was a summer afternoon in 2003, while wandering on Thuy Khue street, Thai saw a foreign man. Although he did not know English and was shy, but afraid that "he would be hungry tonight", Thai approached the man to invite him to shine his shoes.

The man nodded, and Thai quickly got to work. At that time, he did not know that the guest was Mr. Jimmy Pham, founder of KOTO - a social enterprise specializing in training restaurant and hotel jobs for disadvantaged children in Vietnam.

"He spoke Vietnamese very fluently. After paying, he pointed to the KOTO center right behind me and asked if I wanted to go there to learn a trade," said Mr. Thai.

Thai returned to his room, gathered with Duong and a few friends to read the newspaper introducing KOTO. Wanting a chance to change their lives, they applied to the center.

Sharing with reporters, Mr. Jimmy Pham said that he was impressed with Thai because of his carefulness and honesty when working. Thai did not charge high prices just because he saw Western customers. "I thought, if I could give him a fishing rod, instead of a fish, he could go far."

After returning to their hometown to confirm their family background, interview, and take the exam, Duong and Thai were two of the 29 students accepted for training.

At the center, they are placed in an "unimaginably professional" environment: They are trained by domestic and foreign teachers in manners, basic life and communication skills, and then in English classes and specialized service/cooking skills.

"From children who didn't even know what a hot sandwich tasted like, we were introduced to beef steak, cakes,... and learned how to prepare them. We went to European restaurants and hotels to practice. It was all like a dream," the couple recalled.

Two friends learn culinary skills at a social enterprise

Mr. Duong said that the years of wandering and poverty made them afraid of poverty and yearn to go to school like their peers. That's why, when they had the opportunity to go to the center, the couple "studied like they had never studied before."

“They show up every day in class with humility and a determination to excel. This not only inspires their fellow students, but also our teachers and staff,” said Jimmy.

After 18 months of training, the couple was introduced to work in European restaurants. In 7 years, they traveled around Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh Hoa , from assistant chef to head chef and manager.

From a wandering shoeshine boy, Mr. Thai became a head chef at many restaurants, with a high salary.

Become a restaurant owner

In 2013, the couple returned to Hanoi. Dreaming of owning their own restaurant, believing they had the experience, they pooled their capital and borrowed money to open a small bakery and pastry shop in Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.

Opening the shop in the hot summer, the shop was deserted "like a temple", and soon had to close. The dream of starting a business was gone, and they had to take with them a debt of hundreds of millions of dong. They went back to working for others.

"Luckily we have experience so we found a head chef position in foreign restaurants with a high salary to pay off the debt," said Mr. Thai.

In 2017, when the European restaurant where Mr. Duong was working intended to transfer the brand, once again, the desire to start a business arose. Mr. Duong rode his motorbike to find his friend, asking for his opinion on buying the brand to do business together. After only 1 hour of thinking, Mr. Thai agreed.

"But that night, when I discussed it with my wife, she cried. She was afraid that I would continue to fail and the family would fall into debt again," Mr. Thai said. "I hoped my wife would give me another chance to fulfill my unfinished dream. If I failed this time, I would only work for hire for the rest of my life," he recalled.

To be "safe", at first, Mr. Duong was in charge of the restaurant, both cooking and managing, while Mr. Thai continued to work outside to earn money. Early in the morning, Mr. Thai often went to the market to choose ingredients and then brought them to the restaurant.

Mr. Duong and Mr. Thai call each other "soul mates"

Within half a year, Mr. Duong gradually changed the restaurant's business model to specialize in pizza and pasta, trained staff, built operating procedures... The number of customers began to stabilize, and there was profit, so he called his friend: "Let's go home, we can go back to our restaurant."

The restaurant was doing well and they opened two new branches. However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a sharp decline in foreign visitors and the branches closed one after another.

"We had to change once again, we couldn't depend on foreign customers. Thai started researching pizza that could attract Vietnamese customers, while I took care of promotion and connecting with customers," said Mr. Duong.

Understanding the trend of using organic handmade products, they struggled to find a recipe for making self-fermented pizza. They wanted to produce crispy, fragrant, sweet-tasting pizzas with their own unique signature.

"There was a time when I literally slept with the dough. Because I had to test the dough at different temperatures to see how the fermentation and rising process went," said Mr. Thai.

It took Mr. Thai more than 2 years to make naturally fermented pizza.

In 2023, they reduced the price of the pizza to attract customers and record the feedback. In 2024, they launched a frozen pizza line that still ensures the crispiness of direct baking.

The couple’s restaurant on To Ngoc Van Street is gradually becoming crowded again. They are often fully booked on both floors during lunch and dinner on weekends, and they also have delivery orders across the city. More than 2,000 cakes are sold each month.

Many of the restaurant's current employees are also young people with difficult circumstances like Mr. Duong and Thai before.

Following the journey of 2 former students, Mr. Jimmy Pham shared: "For us, the success of each student is not just about position, title or salary, but it is about change. They become better versions of themselves, building a purposeful and hopeful life. The journey of Thai and Duong is no exception."

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tung-danh-giay-ngu-gam-cau-ha-noi-doi-ban-thanh-chu-nha-hang-pizza-dong-khach-2426272.html