Meet Casey Felton and Armen Piskoulian of Banh Oui in Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Felton, Armen Piskoulian.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Casey, Armen. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Banh Oui is our first restaurant concept. It is inspired by both our professional make-up as chefs and our personal desire to share a space reflective of Los Angeles’ expediently growing restaurant climate. It is meant to share a marriage between the priorities of both the back of house and front of the house. Tips are shared equally among staff, as a means for creating a team-work mentality.

With that said, guest satisfaction is of our highest priority. We expect our staff to create a seamless, welcoming and relaxed experience. Banh Oui aims to provide a neighborhood space that nurtures and reflects the idea of community. We are currently swimming in what we deem a “share-culture”. It is a culture thriving off shared experiences and memories as a means for expanding personal horizons outside our usual boundaries.

Banh Oui is our playful introduction to a casual eatery. Our initial thought process was to create a space for co-workers, friends and families to gather over some great food, BUT it was also important for us to create something out of the ordinary.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Overall, it has been a smooth road! Its been two years in the making. Banh Oui started at Smorgasburg LA on Sundays, snagged as many catering events, like Hilarity for Charity with Seth Rogan and The Taste Event for The LA Times.

Three months into the opening at Smorgasburg, Banh Oui chose an unconventional pop up in Silverlake’s Hi-Tech Automotive Service Station. It was there that Jenn Harris of the LA Times and Farley Elliot of Eater took notice and launched Banh Oui into the limelight!

It’s been a lot of setting up and breaking down with all the pop-ups and residencies we’ve taken over the years, but worth all the sweat, sleepless hours and teamwork!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Banh Oui – what should we know?
Banh Oui stands apart in that it is run by formally trained chefs who understood immediately that they wanted to run a fast-casual concept backed by what they’ve learned over the years. Banh Oui makes everything in-house except the bread.

Eventually, with the right growth and facilities, we hope to also make our own bread. But the pate is French in style and the application of ingredients and techniques for all the items made in-house come from what we’ve learned working around Los Angeles’ top restaurants.

Casey Felton started her culinary degree post majoring with an Art History and English degree from Pitzer College. Her first kitchen job was working at Providence restaurant, where she fell in love with the elegance and sophistication of French and Japanese cuisine. After Providence, she furthered her culinary education at Red Medicine, honing her understanding for aesthetic plate up and locally sourced ingredients. She spent a year traveling and living in Sydney, Australia, where she worked as a Chef at a beachside cafe. Casey, while loving the creative juices of the culinary world, is well versed in both the back of house and front of house restaurant industry and continues to expand her love for sharing everything culinary with the people she grew up with here in Los Angeles.

Armen Piskoulian has always exuded a passion for cooking. His love for sharing food with family and friends lead him to take his first job at Michael’s in Santa Monica. Post Michael’s, Armen enrolled into The Tasting Kitchen whole animal butchery program, where an appreciation for using the entire animal became of utmost importance to his culinary philosophy. While seasonal cooking and pasta became his main focus, an opportunity to travel abroad to Sydney, Australia, awakened his culinary interests to a world of Southeast Asian influences. After returning to his home base, Los Angeles, Armen became Executive Sous Chef at Scarpetta’s Beverly Hills location, overseeing day to day operations and the continued growth of a strong Italian institution.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Integrity. Integrity can be easily mistaken for ambition. Banh Oui is ambitious in the sense that it’s attempting a genre of sandwich that has yet to hit the mainstream market.

But what makes our concept so important to us is that we’ve worked for every inch of this business. When you earn something, it takes on a greater respect and value. That kind of integrity is earned and not given.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1552 North Cahuenga Blvd.
  Hollywood, CA 90028
• Website: www.banhoui.com
• Phone: 323-645-7944
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: banh_oui
• Facebook: banh oui
• Twitter: banh_oui

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