The sad news was announced on Instagram by the owners of The Lunch Lady restaurant in Vancouver, Canada.
According to a post on social media, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh just arrived in Toronto to prepare to open a Lunch Lady restaurant here on June 3, but suddenly had a cardiac arrest and medical staff could not save her. She passed away in the arms of her loved ones.
Ms. Thanh is not only the heart and soul of The Lunch Lady. She is a mother, a teacher, a silent master in the profession. Her dishes tell stories. Her presence makes people feel seen. Her legacy lives forever in every bowl of noodles, every vegetable, every meticulous moment in the kitchen, the restaurant announced.
Ms. Thanh's restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City is famous for having a different type of broth every day. She said the recipes were passed down from her family, but never revealed the ingredients. The broth is often combined with many types of noodles and toppings such as shrimp, quail eggs, pork belly, sausage, fried crab and green vegetables.
The popularity of Lunch Lady has led Michael Tran - a second-generation Vietnamese-American businessman - to come to Ms. Thanh and enthusiastically invite her to cooperate in opening a restaurant in Vancouver, according to SCMP. Finally, she agreed and The Lunch Lady restaurant officially opened in 2020, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Two years later, Ms. Thanh visited her first overseas restaurant and was very impressed with the multiculture of cuisine in Vancouver. The restaurant here serves modernized Vietnamese dishes such as fried crab, shrimp cakes, wagyu beef stew, and grilled dishes with porridge and fried eggs.
Ms. Thanh's original restaurant opened for sale is located in the corner of an apartment building on Hoang Sa Street, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. The restaurant specializes in serving dishes such as Hu tieu, bun mat, bun bo Hue, banh canh, bun mat...
Although not located in the central area of Ho Chi Minh City, the restaurant still regularly attracts international visitors, with a group entering every three minutes to order.
This was once mentioned in the TV show No Reservations by famous chef Anthony Bourdain. He himself nicknamed the restaurant owner Lunch Lady.
In No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain praised Ms. Thanh as a "legend". While enjoying Hue beef noodle soup at the restaurant, the former chef once shared his feelings: "This dish gives me a sense of familiarity. It's hard to believe that she can combine so many spices in one pot of broth to create such an excellent flavor.
Since being introduced on the No Reservations program, Ms. Thanh's restaurant has become a familiar destination for many international diners and appeared in many articles and magazines.
The Lady Lunch restaurant in Toronto has postponed its opening date until further notice.
