Quang Dung is the founder of Chapter, a dining establishment in Hanoi, listed in the Michelin Guide's Bib Gourmand list.

Michelin Guide praised Quang Dung's creative and sophisticated approach for setting a new standard for fine dining experiences in Vietnam.

Beyond traditional understanding

Breaking away from traditional notions of luxury, the Chapter chef is fascinated by seemingly cheap cuts of meat. However, according to the chef, they bring even more flavor than expensive parts.

"Cooking with it is much more fun," Dung said of the oxtail, the part he once prepared to serve to Prince William when the royal family visited Vietnam.

"There are a million things you can do with oxtail, but with sirloin, you can only grill it," Dung said.

"Lobster used to be fed to prisoners in America. In Vietnam, the most expensive part is not the beef tenderloin but the beef shank, I don't think it's any less delicious," he added.

This chef also innovated by using pig's trotters in a different way than usual. The trotters were deboned and then stuffed with foie gras and traditionally marinated pork in Vietnamese style.

The chef joked: "Vietnamese people eat from head to toe, without throwing anything away."

Vietnam is the land of world-class cuisine?

Quang Dung believes that whether the time customers spend is worth the food or not - is considered one of the criteria of luxury.

According to him, the culture of high-end restaurant chefs is completely different from the culture of a hot pot restaurant chef.

This is not a job but an artistic creation. The main difference is that they do what they want to do, not because they have to.

"Vietnam is increasingly showing that it is one of the creative lands of world-class cuisine," Quang Dung shared.

The term “sustainability” is still quite new in the hospitality industry in Vietnam, “but it is becoming a global standard and I am confident that the hospitality industry in Vietnam will catch up in the near future,” said the chef.