Vietnam comes to Thane

Five years on Capthi Lyrsquos pet peeve is ldquoThey say they eat nonveg but say yes to only chicken and seafoodrdquoLy runs The Studio a Vietnamese supper club out of her cosy apartment in Hiranandani Estate Thane The space is the size of a studio with a tiny kitchen that has only one threeburner stove and a sink Here she cooks traditional recipes that she grew up cooking and eating in Nam Caacutet Tiecircn When we met Ly she has a pot of chicken broth bubbling on the stove for the pho Vietnamrsquos traditional and popular noodle soupItrsquos evident that Ly is shy and prefers to stay busy cooking away banh xeo a savoury pancake on the side instead of answering questions Her quick movements prove that shersquos in her natural element After all she began cooking at the age of seven ldquoMy parents were farmers and did not have much moneyrdquo she explains telling us how she would cook clean take care of her siblings two sisters and a brother and work on the familyrsquos farm She adds ldquoIn Vietnamese culture the eldest daughter has the most responsibilities The men are usually more laid backrdquoChicken phoWhile working hard to help her parents was Lyrsquos reality itrsquos also true that more Vietnamese women are part of the labour force when compared to the global average A research by the International Labour Organisation on Gender and the Labour Market in Vietnam reveals that in 2019 709 per cent of Vietnamrsquos workingage women were in the labour force The corresponding rate at a global level stood at 472 per centItrsquos this working class culture that led Ly to study and eventually move to the capital of Ho Chi Minh City to find work By the age of 27 she had her own pharma business for which she would travel to India to buy generic medicines Itrsquos here that she met Manish Malhotra her husband ldquoFrom where I come parents donrsquot decide who you will marryrdquo she says without revealing too much about the backstory of their romance The couple began dating soon after they met By December 2018 Ly had decided to move to Mumbai with Malhotra and the pair married in 2019 The couple has a threeyearold son who is growing up as halfPunjabi and halfVietnameseThe move to Mumbai meant that Ly would shut down her business But before she decided to build her life in a new country she also managed to improve her parentsrsquo condition back Hailing from the countryside Ly grew up in Nam Caacutet Tiecircn which is popular as a tourist spot owing to the Caacutet Tiecircn National Park a mere threehour drive away from Ho Chi Minh City Lyrsquos family now runs Cat Tien Backpacker Hostel complete with a cafe that she helped them set up It is here that Ly garnered the experience of cooking and gained the practice she needed to perfect her recipesEager to establish something yet againndashexcept this time in MumbaindashLy first set up a cloud kitchen Vietnam Express She began serving traditional snacks including pho banh xeo banh mi and Vietnamese iced coffee But despite a 47 organic rating on Zomato a cloud kitchen in Thane meant the delivery radius was limited ldquoShe had customers in all the best societies of Thane but that was still niche Ly was working 17 hours a day and with the percentage these apps charge it meant barely any profits ldquo explains Malhotra Thatrsquos when he suggested she start a supper club earlier this yearThe Studio allows __the_studio___ Ly to serve 14 diners at every seating who come looking for an immersive experience of Vietnamese culture willing to pay as much as R2500 a meal The move to Mumbai was challenging but the 34yearold has adapted and even adopted some Hindi Her conversations are now peppered with ldquobartanrdquo ldquotheekrdquo and ldquothoda thodardquo And shersquos becoming a Mumbaikar by eating her way through the city ldquoTheek hairdquo she says about how she is enjoying Mumbai life But Malhotra says that it wasnrsquot easy ldquoShe would go to shop for groceries and receive lsquoChina Chinarsquo slursrdquoPerhaps the supper club has become a way for Ly to promote her culture in her adopted country When it comes to Vietnamese food though for Ly authenticity is key She makes most sauces from scratch and relies on a few othersndashlike the Vietnamese soy saucendashon imports The rice noodles and rice paper rolls are imported too along with coffee beans Before every dining experience Ly handroasts and grinds the coffee to make authentic Vietnamese iced coffee And bakes the baguettes herself for the banh mi Malhotra says that Ly is also an expert butcher He backs up his statement by quickly whipping out a video on his phone where Ly is seen taking over the knife at the local butcher shop to get the right cut of pork for the banh miAs she gradually adapts to aamchi Mumbai at the core she is a proud Vietnamese woman You see it not only in the food she serves but also in the way shersquos particular about choosing the most traditional noacuten laacute leaf hat or headwear to wear for a photograph we requestThe good news She has strengthened her friendships from Vietnam including the one with Chef Hannah Ho who runs Little Saigon in Delhirsquos Hauz Khas Market She is actively attached to her communityndashwhich she estimates is 1000 strong in Indiandashwhom she often hosts