For someone who has always wanted to take up culinary arts as a profession and share his hometown cuisine, Jayson Nguyen has found his true calling.
According to Hanoi-born Jayson, he felt a little “sore” when he saw the popularity of Vietnamese food spreading across Auckland in recent years - which were mainly variants from Saigon rather than from the northern region where he’s from.
In general, Vietnamese cuisine combines five fundamental tastes - sweet, salty, sour, spicy and bitter - and is characterized by fresh ingredients and minimal dairy or oil use.
It also has plenty of exciting textures and uses plenty of fresh vegetables and herbs.
But there are subtle differences between the food from Saigon food which voraciously combines ingredients and recipes and uses sauces, Hanoi dishes are more delicate and lighter on seasoning, and often sticks to traditional recipes.
“When this Sylvia Park venue became available, I thought it would be a great opportunity to bring Hanoi food here because there are no Hanoi eateries south of Mount Wellington.”
Jayson first arrived in New Zealand in 2010 and studied in a cooking school while working at a Korean restaurant for two years. He then went on to become a chef catering for airlines before moving to Wellington where he cooked in a Vietnamese fusion restaurant between 2016 to 2021.
Jayson said he came from a family of fantastic cooks - who ran a family restaurant in Hanoi.
“It’s been my dream to become just like them, and have my own restaurant where I can showcase the cuisine from my hometown,” he said.
Jayson opened Viet Flames nine months ago with two other business partners who have extensive hospitality experience.
“This is like an extension to my family’s restaurant in Hanoi, where I can bring some of their top chefs over,” he said.
The restaurant’s name Viet Flames is a reflection of Jayson’s goal of wanting to spread the flavours of Hanoi here in New Zealand like wildfire.
Inviting guests to explore Vietnamese cuisine through his extensive menu, he recommends starting with the Hanoi fried spring rolls - which is packed with crab and pork mince and served with nuoc cham dipping sauce.
Unique starters include the green king prawns in tamarind sauce, kaffir lime leaf and garlic and the crispy squid served with hot green chilli sauce.
For mains, dishes that would take your tastebuds to Hanoi include the Bun Cha Hanoi comprising grilled pork, meatballs, spring rolls and vermicelli, the Cha Ca Thang Long market fish with galangal, onion, noodles and peanuts served with rice paper wraps and Vietnamese beef stew served with banh mi baguette on the side.
A favourite also is the roasted duck salad, served with tamarind, lychee and crushed peanuts.
To finish on a sweet note, have the mango pana cotta with coconut and pandan and the black rice pudding with coconut and banana.
Of course this Vietnamese restaurant has the quintessential pho and banh mi too, but the chef says his menu was designed to encourage guests from venturing beyond those.
“We want Viet Flames to be a bridge catering to people who appreciate classic, old-school Vietnamese dishes, but also try something exciting and new,” Jayson said.
“Hopefully through Viet Flames, we can bring the Vietnamese dining scene here to the next level.”
When asked what he has enjoyed most since becoming head chef and boss at Viet Flames, Jayson replied: “Seeing dishes come back empty with good feedback and smiles and seeing returning customers.”
