Episode 36: Chef Nini Nguyen – The Accidental Top Chef

Nini Nguyen is a contestant on Season 16 of Top Chef and is the Culinary Director of Cook Space in Brooklyn, NY. Hailing from New Orleans, LA, she is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, and she embraces both culinary influences in her cooking style. In this episode, she gives us customer service and business overhead tips that can translate to our practices. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from her favorite Vietnamese food to dressing up as the ghost from the movie The Ring. Notes of Interest *Nini Nguyen says that Top Chef was a life changing experience She says that Top Chef is like summer camp except someone gets eliminated every week *Nini pursued a traditional college career, and earned a degree in business marketing from Louisiana State University, but realized her true passion was in cooking. *She started working in her home town, New Orleans, at Sucre and Coquette, specializing in pastries. *In 2012, Nini decided to move from the Big Easy to the Big Apple *She honed her skills at Eleven Madison park in NYC and nationwide at Dinner Lab *Nini says that working in the restaurant industry is a labor of love Dong Phuong Bakery is her favorite Bakery in New Orleans Dong Phuong Bakery is known for their Banh Mi and Meat Pies Nini pranked her Top Chef castmates by dressing up as the Ghost from the Ring and scaring them Links Nini Nguyen Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/idreamof.nini/ Top Chef– http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef Everything New Orleans – https://gonola.com/ Dong Phuong Bakery - http://dpbakeshop.com/ Acknowledgements: "Make 'Em Say Uhh! is property of Master P and No Limit Records "Still Fly" is property of Big Tymers