(Fatherland) - In 2007, at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City, the "father" of modern marketing Philip Kotler once said that if China is the "factory of the world", India is the "office of the world", then Vietnam hopes to be the "kitchen of the world" in the future.
After 17 years, Vietnamese cuisine has increasingly left its mark on international friends not only because of its impressive flavors and cooking methods, but also because it contains the cultural beauty of the nation in each dish with top dishes mentioned such as: bread, beef noodle soup, bun cha, fried dough sticks, rice vermicelli, fried spring rolls, pancakes, Hue beef noodle soup, beef stew,... Among them, there are famous people or international politicians who have not hesitated to express their admiration and love for Vietnamese cuisine.
In particular, in recent years, Vietnamese cuisine has been continuously named in prestigious international awards such as the World Culinary Awards honoring Hanoi as "World's Leading Culinary City", "Asia's Leading Culinary City"; Ho Chi Minh City was voted by Time Out Magazine (UK) at 4th place in the list of 20 cities with the best cuisine in the world.
Most recently (2024), in its second year in the Vietnamese market, the Michelin Guide continued to expand its awarding of 1 Michelin star to 7 restaurants in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang as well as increasing the list of votes for restaurants with "good quality food at affordable prices" (Bib Gourmand) and Michelin Selected restaurants.
Or in 2025, Hue will become the first centrally-governed heritage city of Vietnam. In particular, the culinary heritage is long-standing, extremely rich and unique, with up to 1,700 out of 3,000 dishes in Vietnam recorded in the Nguyen Dynasty's Code, from royal dishes to folk dishes - Hue is choosing the culinary field to promote participation in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. This is considered an important strategy to contribute to promoting Vietnamese cuisine to the world.
In domestic competitions, aiming to develop and elevate the culinary market in Vietnam, there are the Top 25 Best High-end Restaurants in Vietnam awards organized by Robb Report Magazine or Flavors Vietnam by Vietcetera to honor the contributions and achievements of the Vietnamese F&B industry (food and beverage service business at restaurants, hotels, and tourist areas) on the path to making a mark on the world culinary map. All of these contribute to further motivating businesses in the industry to focus more on investing in service quality and culinary creativity.
To achieve the above achievements, Vietnamese cuisine, together with dedicated people, has brought the unique, characteristic and extremely diverse beauty of each region on the S-shaped strip of land, where the imprint of native products rich in natural, soil and seasonal characteristics combined with the local cooking methods, whether rustic or sophisticated, always create sophisticated flavors; contributing to introducing and promoting the beauty of local culture through cuisine from all regions of Vietnam.
In 2024, Man Moi Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City is one of the restaurants that has established its identity by holding more than 10 culinary events "Homeland Flavors", restoring and introducing nearly 100 carefully selected dishes from specialties from all over the country to introduce to diners and tourists.
Hay Nen Light - a Vietnamese fine-dining restaurant exploiting local ingredients, products and Vietnamese hospitality in a modern and creative style. The restaurant's tasting menus change seasonally and are developed in the form of a "Story Menu" - each menu is a story about Vietnamese culture told through a culinary experience.
Meanwhile, JW Marriott Phu Quoc Resort honors local agricultural products and the sustainable development of the Pearl Island's environment by delicately combining Phu Quoc specialties such as herring, sea urchin, pepper, honey and organic vegetables and fruits with the creativity of talented chefs to create delicacies that bring a worthy, classy experience to visitors.
Journalist Vu Kim Hanh, President of the Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Enterprises, shared that in the world, in many countries, research and development of agricultural products and local specialties are highly focused. In Vietnam, this field still has many gaps and has not been properly invested. For example, at Hum (a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City), we can see their enthusiasm and passion towards developing Vietnamese agricultural products in a sustainable way. A normal dish has two standards: safety and flavor quality, but at Hum there is another factor, which is a very high naturalness. Vegetables, tubers, fruits, seeds, and spices of our land are extremely rich, depending on the region and season. Hum understands and appreciates this characteristic, to create a foundation for creating Vietnamese cuisine with its own identity. All are elaborately transformed to bring a unique culinary experience journey for both Vietnamese and international diners.
Artisan and culinary expert Phan Ton Tinh Hai commented that Vietnamese cuisine is developing strongly and has great potential to become one of the attractive destinations for international tourists. However, to achieve this goal, it requires the efforts of the whole community, from managers, businesses, to chefs and consumers. However, to promote Vietnamese cuisine effectively, it is necessary to clearly identify the unique characteristics of Vietnamese cuisine, such as diversity, freshness, nutrition, and connection with culture and community spirit. At the same time, build stories behind each dish and each ingredient to create curiosity and excitement for international diners.
In addition, it is necessary to diversify culinary products to keep up with global trends. Vietnamese cuisine now does not only stop at traditional dishes but is also constantly continued by young generation chefs, creatively combining them with modern elements to create new and attractive dishes. To meet the diverse needs of the market, it is necessary to research and develop culinary tourism products, specifically culinary tours, cooking classes, culinary festivals both domestically and internationally...
It can be said that the attraction of a tourist destination cannot be without the important contribution of cuisine. However, for Vietnamese cuisine to conquer the taste of diners from all over the world, it certainly needs a strong and right investment strategy to be "attractive" enough and retain tourists every time they visit.
In addition, to promote the development of the culinary industry, it is necessary to create culinary competitions where chefs have the opportunity to introduce the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine, while learning, creating and gaining experience so that Vietnam will soon have a generation of talented and dedicated chefs, contributing to the development of Vietnamese cuisine.
Source: https://toquoc.vn/de-viet-nam-tro-thanh-bep-an-cua-the-gioi-20250126094122114.htm
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