Tue Nguyen is a young cook who came to the US from Vietnam as a kid. She became extremely well-known on TikTok for demonstrating how to prepare Vietnamese food. She went from posting videos of her cooking Vietnamese dishes on TikTok during the pandemic to opening her own restaurant called Di Di near Los Angeles.
“I think that’s always kind of been like a dream. But… I honestly didn’t know that it would come this fast,” Nguyen shared in a recent interview with AFP.
She learned cooking in a special school, but her real talent came from her family’s way of cooking. Her mom and stepdad taught her how to make good food and trust her taste.
At first, Tue put videos online as TwayDaBae where she did mukbangs. People liked them, but they loved her cooking videos more. She saw that most of her audience didn’t just want to watch, they also wanted to learn how to make the delicious food themselves.
Tue didn’t start by making a big restaurant. She began with small places where she cooked for people. The first place where she did this is now her restaurant, called Di Di. Many people follow her on social media like Instagram and TikTok. They like her videos a lot, but Tue thinks that sharing recipes online won’t stop people from coming to her restaurant. She says her online recipes are simple, while her restaurant food looks and tastes more special.
Di Di, which means “Let’s go” in Vietnamese, is like a piece of Tue’s heart. It’s filled with comfy chairs, pretty lamps, and plants. It opened recently and is already making people happy. Tue mixes what she learned in cooking school with the flavors from her family.
Featured Image Source: Eater LA
