A generation of chefs with creative thinking and innovative techniques are continuously striving to reinvent Vietnamese cuisine based on its inherent values, adding vibrant colors to the nation's culinary scene amid globalization.

Le Ha Uyen is one standout name. 

Uyen, who is better known as Summer Le in the industry, started her food career a decade ago with a blog to promote Vietnamese dishes in her student years. 

Today, she is the founder and executive chef of two famous fine dining restaurants, Nén Danang and Nén Light Saigon. 

Both venues made it to this year's Michelin Selected list for Vietnam, with Nén Light Saigon winning the title two years in a row. 

Meanwhile, Nén Danang became the first restaurant in Vietnam to receive the Michelin Green Star, awarded to establishments at the forefront of the industry for their sustainable practices and dining experiences that combine culinary excellence with outstanding eco-friendly commitments.

These accolades recognize the hard work of Summer Le and her team in solidifying Vietnam's place in the global food scene, driven by a strong belief in the inner strength of Vietnamese cuisine.

The concept of Nén

"During my last year of university, I began blogging in English to introduce Vietnamese street food to the world,” chef Le recalled.

"I noticed that Vietnamese cuisine at that time was still lacking in creativity, modernity, innovation, and fine dining, so I wanted to do something about it.”

That idea motivated her to launch Nén Danang in 2017, but after three years of operation, it closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, she opened Nén Light Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, and by August 2023, Nén Danang reopened. 

Both restaurants run under the 'Sto:ry Menu' concept, a tasting menu woven with storytelling elements.

"Sto:ry Menu is our way of portraying Vietnamese cuisine, together with the cultural and historical values of this land,” Summer Le explained.

“To me, a grain of rice carries its own story, as much as the farmers growing it. And I hope when you experience our Sto:ry Menu, you can see a bit of your own story in there."

Each Sto:ry Menu is created around a specific theme.

For instance, 'Dear Arya' is a story on motherhood and Vietnamese family values; meanwhile 'Light' casts light on food’s ability to transcend borders and deliver emotions, just like 'light' and how Vietnamese find hope through difficult times.

With 'Origins,' which is inspired by Vietnam’s deep heritage, the Nén team attempts to answer the question: “Why do we need to understand our roots?”

Summer Le shared that her team puts in significant effort to transform ideas, inspired by everyday life, into flavorful and meaningful dishes when creating a menu. 

This effort is apparent in dishes like 'Kaleidoscope' in the 'Light' menu.

“Somewhere in my stream of thought about light, there's a kaleidoscope," she said.

"It's an amazing device: no two kaleidoscope images are the same and the materials inside are shuffled randomly with every turn, producing a million facets of light and darkness.

"I think a kaleidoscope is such a beautiful analogy for life and I wanted to create a dish inspired by it. 

"It turned out to be the most difficult dish to develop on this menu.

"After multiple approaches, the one that made the most sense to me was layering.

"I spent about two months testing different layering combinations and finally found one interesting enough to create the flavor profile I want.”

The culinary world at Nén is as vibrant as the colorful world inside a kaleidoscope, where Summer Le and her team freely explore, create, and craft unique, exquisite dishes from local Vietnamese ingredients.

99% hyper-local ingredients

Summer Le’s fine dining can be understood as a 'purely Vietnamese' style, with Nén restaurants saying it uses 99 percent hyper-local ingredients.

That means most or all of the ingredients are grown by the restaurant itself, and what they cannot produce, they source locally, in the hope of “highlighting the true essence of Vietnamese flavors.”

Since its establishment in 2017, Nén has prioritized sustainability by growing vegetables, edible flowers, and fruits on the rooftops of both restaurants.

Earlier this year, they introduced Nén Farm, which is an environment dedicated to researching and cultivating ingredients for the restaurants as part of their passionate journey to promote local elements.

Not only do Summer Le and her team grow their ingredients, but they also diligently research various uncommon Vietnamese components such as bougainvillea flowers, and beeswax.

The brand even runs a project called Nén Journal, which documents the ingredients used by Nén, as well as details the texture, aroma, flavor, and practical use.

“Each summer, we cherry-pick the Bougainvillea, sometimes collecting up to five kilograms of flowers. After harvesting, we remove the veins, clean, salt, dry, and grind the flowers to create the final product – Bougainvillea salt,” Nén Journal describes.

“Bougainvillea salt is light pink with rich umami flavor. We use this salt to sprinkle over cheese mousse with fresh shrimp marinated in garlic oil and fresh fruits, served in Sto:ry Menu #4: Origins – Về nhà.”

Talking with chef Summer Le, one would not have any difficulty realizing her belief in the power of Vietnamese cuisine. 

She does not want to make modern Vietnamese cuisine or elevate Vietnamese dishes by 'borrowing' ingredients from other countries. 

She believes “that's the intrinsic strength of each cuisine."

“Any cuisine that wants to have intrinsic strength must use ingredients from that land,” Le insisted. 

“What we’re doing at Nén is just prove that. Look, we only use our local Vietnamese ingredients, and with the taste of the Vietnamese people, we can create delicious and beautiful dishes.

"We must believe that our cuisine is 'top-notch'; only then can we invest the effort to develop it," she stated.

She noted that Vietnam's fine dining scene has made significant strides in recent years.

"While traditional and street food remain the heart of Vietnamese cuisine, we need to enhance other aspects to create a more vibrant culinary landscape and attract a wider audience," Le said.

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