Look Who’s Talking

JOHNNY NGUYEN

If you are a foodie living in southwest Michigan then you know all about Nonla. Whether you are enjoying the Bo Luc Lac (Shaking Beef) at NONLA VIETNAMESE STREET FOOD in Mattawan, a Baja Fish Taco at NONLA TAQUERIA in Schoolcraft, the Heo Quay Bahn Mi from NONLA BANH MI TO GO in downtown Kalamazoo or grabbing a juicy burger or chicken sando (Nonla style) from one of the two NONLA BURGER locations in Kalamazoo, it is very easy to tell (and taste) that you are enjoying world-class cuisine. Most of us know and love the food. Now we are pleased to introduce the readers of Women’s LifeStyle the very talented chef, co-owner of Nonla, husband and dad Johnny Nguyen.

CHECK OUT ALL OF THE NONLA LOCATIONS

NONLA VIETNAMESE STREET FOOD 24050 Front Ave, Mattawan | NONLA TAQUERIA 321 N. Grand St, Schoolcraft | NONLA BANH MI TO GO 436 S. Burdick St, Kalamazoo | NONLA BURGER 2103 S. Burdick St, Kalamazoo ∙ 1700 S. Drake Rd, Suite A, Kalamazoo

Johnny, thanks for taking time to talk with us. Tell us a little about yourself.

Though my family moved from Vietnam, as refuges in the 70s to flee from the war I the youngest of 7 was born and raised in southern Ca. My parents worked hard and owned a fish market and my mom was a seamstress. My older brother Tho was a chef working at a fine dining Italian restaurant and he inspired me with food. My first job was 16 working the kitchen at a dairy queen. By 18 I had already moved up into working at a fine dining restaurant (5 Feet in Laguna Beach), after 3 years of working my way up from chef de partie to Sous Chef I moved onto be the opening Sous Chef for the new Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. It was a five-star, five diamond resort, it’s safe to say at that young age my ego was embarrassingly large (in hindsight). At 25 I moved up to San Francisco and worked at a 2 Michelin star restaurant and was there for 3 years until, I met one of my now good friends and became an executive chef for his restaurant group while we opened restaurants and grew. Between that time and now there was lots of change adventure even living/ working in Maui for a bit.

You and your wife, Kelly, have a beautiful family. Tell us about them.

I feel really grateful to have a family. Both my wife and I are from big families and on our first date learned that we both wanted the same. In less than five years aside from opening 5 restaurants we had four kids. Olive, Bea, Hugo & Penn. They are the whole reason I work so hard. I want to make them proud and show them anything can be achieved through hard work. We’ve built these from pretty much nothing and they get to see every part of that with their parents working side by side.

Give us a little background on the development & expansion of Nonla.

Nonla in Vietnamese is actually two words–Non la. It is the straw hat worn working the rice fields in Vietnam. I never really had a plan of how many restaurants this would grow into. We loved being a Nonla so much and knew we were bringing something unique to the area. And that joy (though very stressful with theups and downs of a new business) made it pretty easy to jump on every new idea I had or building we fell in love with. My wife and I both love food and there are restaurants we have been to that mark milestones and give us the best nostalgic memories. That’s what we try to create each time we open something.

What brought you from the west coast to southwest Michigan?

When we first found out we were having Olive we knew we wanted our daughter to grow up near family; Kelly is from MI. I knew that it was time for me to open a restaurant of my own and when visiting Kelly’s family for Christmas we found a building in Mattawan which we fell in love with and knew that was it! (The building became Nonla Vietnamese Street Food.) We moved from California to Michigan in April 2015, worked on the restaurant everyday (Olive was born in May) and we opened early July 2015.

My favorite thing about owning a business is the freedom. I don’t need to get something approved before moving forward with an idea or change. I can mix things up as often and drastic as I like which, being a chef, is really exciting to have that. I don’t want to paint a picture that this is walk in the park though. There is CONSTANT stress and worry, you work 7 days a week. Before opening Nonla Burger our good friends the Monks moved out from CA to partner up with us which has been a godsend when it comes to these businesses working efficiently. But you get what you put in and our kids tote around with us to help fix and repair, on market runs and food orders on

What is your favorite part of owning/ running a business?

How do you balance the demands of running a successful/expanding business with being a husband & dad?

Is there ever really a balance? I feel like it teeters back and forth... one thing is always getting more or less. This is the part of my life I couldn’t do without Kelly. When it comes to family, she keeps everyone happy, confident and easy going. She calls me out and holds me accountable with the restaurants and kids. I love that I have the flexibility to see my kids throughout the day if I get the chance and on those nights that I get home late and miss seeing them I know; Kelly has my back and tells them their Papa loves them and can’t wait to see them in the morning. I really enjoy being a dad. What’s not to love about a little army of people boosting your ego calling you a superhero and bragging that you are the coolest guy ever? I love teaching them new things.

What is your secret to success?

Just to always work hard. There is no easy way about it, or quick buck in life. You just have to wake up every morning, give your all and do it again the next day. You make your own path in life and no one is going to hand you a map.

If you could give your 20-yearold self one piece of advice, what would it be?

20 year old me? Ha! Id say check yourself before you wreck yourself. I was so cocky.

What is your favorite Nonla dish?

Honestly my favorite thing to eat in the kitchen is just white rice with green onion and egg.

What is your favorite meal to prepare?

Chefs get this question a lot, my favorite meal to prepare is whatever I’m craving that day.

What would your “last meal” be?

My wife was laughing so hard at this question because she knew without me even saying: Oreos and a Coke.

Any words of advice for our readers?

As far as business goes: Be realistic and stay humble. As far as food goes: It’s good to appreciate the finer things but that doesn’t mean the basics aren’t great in their own right too.