Commercial Drive's modern Vietnamese hot spot Lunch Lady entered Vancouver's restaurant scene with a bit of a celeb endorsement by way of its connection back in Vietnam to legendary chef and food personality Anthony Bourdain. In recent days, a couple of other famous folks dined at the Michelin Guide-listed restaurant, according to social media posts.
Both Vancouverite Seth Rogen and SNL star Bowen Yang visited The Lunch Lady.
A Lunch Lady employee shared group photos of the staff with each of the stars on her Instagram stories, noting that meeting celebs is a "work perk."
The Lunch Lady reshared pics of Rogen's visit on its social media via Instagram stories.
"Vancouver rules!!!" said Bowen Yang
Rogen, who is one of Vancouver's most high-profile celebs, returns to Vancouver often for work and play. Recently he was part of a CBC competition show about pottery that was filmed here at Granville Island.
In 2019, Rogen showed celeb chef and food personality David Chang around Vancouver, with several food stops, for his Netflix show Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
Yang has been in Vancouver filming a remake of the film The Wedding Banquet. At the end of June, he shared on his Instagram that the project had wrapped, and shared his love for the city: "Vancouver rules!!!"
The original Lunch Lady earned praise from Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam
The Lunch Lady opened in 2020 and is known for its bold, vibrant, contemporary take on Vietnamese cuisine. In 2022, it was named among the first crop of "Bib Gourmand" (aka value-driven) options on the first-ever Michelin Guide list of Vancouver restaurants.
"Much like a grandmother who has prepared a feast for her family, chef Nguyen Thi Thanh exudes a warm, loving presence as she looks over her bustling dining room," begins the Michelin Guide. Indeed, Commercial Drive's go-to for modern Vietnamese fare has deep roots with a modest food stall in Vietnam made famous by a celebrity chef and travel raconteur. Here you'll find deeply flavourful bowls of noodle soup (go on Sundays to get the slow braised duck soup), steak luc lac, and crispy chili salted prawns.
The Lunch Lady's tie to Bourdain comes from a visit for a 2009 episode of his show No Reservations, which found the late at a Ho Chi Minh City food stall called The Lunch Lady.
Restaurateur Michael Tran travelled to his home country of Vietnam in 2012 and says his initial visit to the Lunch Lady stall there changed his life forever. Tran says a fresh bowl of noodle soup he enjoyed at the stand crafted by Thanh connected him to his homeland. Tran brought his mother, Victoria, of Vancouver restaurant Five Elements, to visit The Lunch Lady, and the trio formed a bond. Ultimately the plan to bring The Lunch Lady's stories and food to Vancouver emerged.
The Lunch Lady is among the many fantastic restaurant options on East Van's bustling Commercial Drive, aka The Drive, named one of the world's coolest streets earlier this year.
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