Today we’d like to introduce you to Viet Nguyen.
Hi Viet, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City and immigrated to the United States when I was 16. I’ve spent most of my life in love with restaurants – there was just something about the organized chaos of how restaurants operated that really fascinated me. Early in my career, I spent some time moonlighting in kitchens, working nearly every position that a restaurant offers, from a dishwasher and busboy to a bartender, line cook, and prep cook. I eventually found myself installing point-of-sale tech at Gordon Ramsay’s now-closed Fat Cow in Los Angeles and picked up occasional shifts there in the kitchen. In 2014 I opened my first restaurant Sup Noodle Bar in Buena Park, and in 2017 its second location opened in Cerritos – soon followed The Vox Kitchen in Fountain Valley. As these restaurants gained massive popularity, we found ourselves spread thin operating and managing multiple brands and multiple store locations, thus Kei Concepts was created. By doing so, we were able to hit the ground running at a pace we’ve never seen before and opened Gem Dining, NEP Cafe, ROL Hand Roll Bar, KIN Craft Ramen, and most recently, INI Ristorante.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, but that much is a given – a life in the restaurant industry is knowingly choosing the bumpiest road possible. The path leading to this point has been riddled with obstacles and challenges, the most recent being the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the restaurant industry. In 2020, the coronavirus mandates hit the restaurant industry hard and left tens of thousands of workers virtually unemployed overnight. The sudden shutdowns left my team and me with mounting pressures, and by that summer, Kei Concepts was losing upwards of $40,000 per month per store – we knew that if we didn’t do something soon, we’d lose hundreds of employees. And as the global pandemic was forcing hundreds of restaurants out of business, we decided to take a calculated risk with a daring pitch to a new group of investors: invest $10 million to secure the future of a rising AAPI-owned restaurant group with the capacity to create new concepts and through uncertain times.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Kei Concepts?
At the moment, Kei Concepts owns and operates seven unique brands: Sup Noodle Bar, The Vox Kitchen, Nep Cafe, Gem Dining, ROL Hand Roll Bar, Kin Craft Ramen & Izakaya, and INI Ristorante, with many more on the way.
At face value, Kei Concepts is an AAPI-owned and operated restaurant group, but we’re also adding technology, liberal arts, and culture to the agenda. Our bigger picture goal is to create a culturally unified ecosystem that gives coming generations of Asians & Asian-Americans a platform to make lasting impressions – something older generations didn’t have. We aim to accomplish this by first leveraging our expertise in hospitality and the culinary arts to build a strong community. Our restaurants are not just places to eat; they’re spaces where you can speak freely and feel comfortable being yourself.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck has definitely played a part in my life – good luck and bad. There are certain aspects of my life that I attribute to good luck. I’m lucky to have a loving family, I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to immigrate to the United States to pursue my dreams, and I’m lucky to have a strong support group that includes my wife, my partners, and most importantly, the entire Kei Concepts team. For all of this, I am truly grateful.
However, luck isn’t always a matter of chance; often, it’s the result of preparation and hard work. I’ve seen how hard work, preparation, and good fortune combine to create the best outcomes. When I look back on my life and business, I see that those moments when we were most successful were when we were in a position to take advantage of opportunities that presented themselves – and sometimes, these opportunities were even disguised as bad luck.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.keiconcepts.info
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kei.concepts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keiconcepts/
Image Credits
Derek Choi, Max Milla
