After founding the Hawaiian restaurant Poke-Chan at 2809 Saint Claude Ave., Susan Nguyen is back at the same address to open a new concept that’s a bit closer to home. Mời Vietnamese Deli & Homestyle Cooking is a fast-casual restaurant that Nguyen founded with her mother Selena Nguyen, a refugee from Vietnam who used to run a banh mi cart in Saigon many years ago.
Susan recently told What Now New Orleans that starting a restaurant with her mom has been rewarding and a little bit competitive.
“I learned a lot of my initial cooking through my mom, and I’ve also grown through my own cooking experience,” she explained. “It’s been typical for us to say, ‘Whose recipe for this dish is better?’”
“Most of the better ones are my mom’s, of course!” Susan laughed. “So, the little wins I do have, you know, I’ll take them.”
When it opens this September, the menu at Mời will include many common Vietnamese dishes. Such as bahi mi, spring rolls, and vermicelli bowls. However, there will also be a rotating section of the menu dedicated to homestyle meals, some of which will include distinct textures and flavors. For example, Bún Đậu Mắm Tôm is made with pig intestines and fried shrimp paste.
“That dish is a little more adventurous, but New Orleans is definitely the place to have it on the menu because people here are so adventurous and so well cultured,” Susan said. “These would be dishes you probably wouldn’t know unless you knew a Vietnamese family.”
While there are plans for a liquor license at some point, the opening beverage menu will highlight traditional non-alcoholic drinks, such as salted lemonade and winter melon tea. There will be two types of iced coffee: a salted iced coffee and a coffee with a creamy egg foam on top.
In addition to Vietnamese food and drink, Mời will emphasize Vietnamese hospitality. Susan says a driving part of the philosophy will be the saying, chỉ là một đôi đũa khác, which translates to “just another pair of chopsticks.”
“It’s kind of just saying like, another guest is always welcome,” Susan explained. “You know, there’s nothing to it: One more guest is just another pair of chopsticks. And I think that’s kind of what our philosophy is: We want to welcome everyone.
“At the core, that’s how we want the restaurant to feel. It’s a family-style restaurant and everyone who comes in is family.”
