Da Nang’s cuisine has been garnering widespread interest from the international culinary community thanks to a wide range of delicate, creative dishes made from clean, nutritious ingredients, along with professional services. Most notably, the recent Michelin awards not only affirm the quality of the local cuisine but also open up opportunities to turn this coastal city into the "kitchen of the world".

By telling stories through cuisine as well as using 99% of ingredients grown in her own farm, Chef Summer Le (real name Le Ha Uyen) has made the Nen Danang Restaurant become the first Vietnamese restaurant to receive the Michelin Green Star title - an award honouring dining establishments for pioneering in making its commitment to sustainable gastronomy.

Towards sustainable quality

By telling stories through cuisine as well as using 99% of ingredients grown in her own farm, Chef Summer Le (real name Le Ha Uyen) has made the Nen Danang Restaurant become the first Vietnamese restaurant to receive the Michelin Green Star title - an award honouring dining establishments for pioneering in making its commitment to sustainable gastronomy.

Summer Le said that with each dish, she often focused on one main ingredient. For example, the dish named Hopy (hope) has the main ingredient of broken rice, and the story of “the transformation of broken rice”.

The 36-year-old woman said that in the process of researching the characteristics of broken rice, she bought several kilos of rice and spent many days observing, smelling and tasting broken rice at different levels of ripeness to clearly feel its fluffiness and separateness. The standard for delicious broken rice is that it must be plump, soft, and fragrant, while broken rice in Viet Nam is often cracked, loose and dry. Therefore, experiencing a dish made from this familiar ingredient gives her a strong inspiration about “the values ​​​​inside Vietnamese culinary culture”.

The special attention to sustainable ingredients and the story behind each dish opens up a different direction for the Nen Danang Restaurant. According to Summer Le, since its official operations in 2017, the restaurant has only used familiar local ingredients.

“When I first got started, I simply followed the path I wanted to pursue. That is, to prepare dishes from homegrown ingredients instead of using available or imported ones. With this idea, I consciously researched and studied pure Vietnamese ingredients and products, and turned them into interesting dishes and culinary stories. I believe that Vietnamese ingredients are not inferior to any ingredients in the world and we can completely prepare delicious, classy dishes from these simple, familiar ingredients” Summer Le shared.

Aside from simple and familiar ingredients in daily meals, she looks for ingredients that she enjoys, such as banana roots. It can be said that the efforts of Summer Le and her colleagues have not only brought success to Nen but have also contributed to raising the status of Da Nang cuisine.

According to the female chef, true sustainability must come from within. Therefore, the Michelin Green Star award has helped the restaurant become a favourite destination, and also helped her feel confident with her inspiring culinary stories about green, clean and safe food. That is also the beauty of green agriculture and from there we will know how to appreciate simple, familiar ingredients for everyday cooking.

Meanwhile, the La Maison 1888 at the InterContinental Danang Peninsula Resort is also one of three restaurants in Viet Nam to be awarded one Michelin Star in 2024. This ranking is based on Michelin's five strict standards, including product quality, culinary talent, flavour harmony, chef's personality and consistency of dishes over time.

Mr. Seif Hamdy, General Manager of InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, said that in order to bring Da Nang cuisine to the world, nearly two years ago, the resort cooperated with famous French chef Pierre Gagnaire, who is considered by experts to not follow conventional processing patterns but to combine different ingredients. That novelty has helped La Maison 1888 soon shape the French menu with a combination of local ingredients and flavours.

At the restaurant, scallops are grilled according to the Hokkaido recipe, while boiled sea snails are rolled in Italian Cannelloni noodles. In addition, dishes made from foie gras, caviar, Wagyu beef tenderloin or black truffle mushrooms also contribute to making this restaurant become a dining establishment for high quality cooking, according to Michelin's comments.

Enhancing the culinary brand

The journey to turn Da Nang into a "kitchen of the world" cannot be without the role of the locality and the business community in supporting the development of the culinary industry. This remark was made by Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh, Vice President of the Da Nang Tourism Association at the Da Nang Chef Talents Competition 2023 themed "Da Nang dishes integrate into the world".

According to Mr. Quynh, currently, restaurants and hotels in Da Nang are very conscious of improving the quality of dishes in a professional and diverse direction.

In recent times, the Da Nang Hotel Association has coordinated with the city’s Labour Federation to regularly organise chef competitions with scoring criteria based on the principles of the world culinary industry.

He believes that to become a "kitchen of the world", chefs need to clearly understand the principles of combining imported ingredients with local spices so that the dishes are not too different but special and memorable. Moreover, such competitions provide the good opportunities for chefs to learn, connect and gain professional experience from leading experts.

As one of 16 dining establishments in the city to receive the Bib Gourmand Award, a designation given by the Michelin Guide to restaurants offering high-quality food at a reasonable price, Mrs. Pham Thi Tuyet, the owner of the Nu Do Kitchen brand, affirmed that the quality and freshness in the spirit of preserving traditional culture in each dish helped her restaurant receive this noble award.

According to Mrs. Tuyet, when coming to a country, in addition to finding a delicious restaurant with reasonable prices, the most important thing that tourists want is to connect with the culture, people, and customs through the food they enjoy. That is the reason why she cares about the flavour and freshness of each dish. For example, as for a bowl of Quang noodles, but at Nu Do Kitchen, there is a light aroma of star anise and cinnamon in the direction of "culinary innovation" to reach a variety of customers.

The interesting thing that Mrs. Tuyet brings to Quang noodles is daring to step out of the safe zone of recipes and ingredients. She boldly experiments new-style Quang noodles by adding star anise and cinnamon and removing some raw vegetables that foreign customers do not like such as fish mint. And even fish and chicken must be deboned and filleted.

The transformation of Da Nang from a famous tourist destination with beautiful landscapes to an international culinary centre is still a long journey requiring lots of efforts.

As a member of the organising board of many talented chef competitions, Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh affirmed that chefs are constantly making every effort to bring unique culinary experiences to visitors.

Restaurants in Da Nang are currently strongly attracting foreign customers thanks to the application of international quality standards and constant innovation. From street food to fine dining establishments, the combination of tradition and innovation has created a unique mark for Da Nang cuisine.

Furthermore, international events have played an important role in putting Da Nang on the culinary map, thereby becoming an unmissable destination for gourmets and those who love exploring different culinary cultures around the world.

Reporting by TIEU YEN - Translating by M.DUNG