That made me both overwhelmed and curious when I came to eat at Pho 2000, a restaurant that has been around for more than 2 decades.
Former US President Bill Clinton stopped by to eat while the owner was in the US.
One morning in Ho Chi Minh City, I had an appointment with Mr. Alain Tan (Huynh Trung Tan), the owner of Pho 2,000 restaurant located near Ben Thanh market, at 210 Le Thanh Ton (District 1).
Seeing me, the gray-haired owner warmly welcomed me and told me stories about the time when US President Bill Clinton (when he was in office) and his family visited the pho restaurant, even though Pho 2000 had only been open for a year at that time.
Pho 2000 restaurant opened in 1999.
The restaurant was visited by US President Bill Clinton in November 2000.
It was a beautiful day in November 2000, the pho restaurant at 1-3 Phan Chu Trinh, was unexpectedly visited by US President Bill Clinton and highly praised. But to have this honor, Mr. Alain Tan had a very special opportunity.
Mr. Alain Tan, Owner of Pho 2000“Since Pho 2000 opened near the North Gate of Ben Thanh Market, an American friend who works at the consulate has been coming here to eat almost every week. One day, this friend asked to meet me. When I asked why, this friend said: “I like your pho restaurant, I have eaten here many times, my staff also come here often. I have a few American friends, they are very careful, especially about food hygiene and safety, and I want to bring them here to eat.
If you allow me, before I bring them here, I will ask someone to come to the shop to take samples for testing. Is that okay?” Hearing this friend say that, I felt comfortable and normal, and said if he wanted to check, then check,” Mr. Alain Tan recalled.
The memory of the time the US President visited is still remembered at this pho restaurant.
After that, because he was busy with the opening of a restaurant in the US, and his son was about to enter university there, Mr. Alain Tan and his wife returned to the land of the free for a while. At this time, US President Bill Clinton unexpectedly visited Pho 2000, when the restaurant only had his mother-in-law and staff. Luckily, everything went smoothly because the restaurant was well organized by the owners, operating well even without them at the restaurant.
Upon hearing the news, Mr. Alain Tan and his wife were extremely surprised. Because the event of US President Bill Clinton visiting Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City was an event that many people were interested in at that time. In the US, the boss also read the newspaper and saw that the city had selected a list of 3-4 places for the President to enjoy cuisine, but his restaurant was not included.
Alain Tan's family restaurant chain has welcomed many politicians.
“I heard from everyone that when the President entered the restaurant, the security forces locked all the doors. Bill Clinton and his daughter went up to the second floor to eat. He ordered a bowl of chicken pho, a glass of water, then a cup of coffee and a mango smoothie. After that, he stood on the balcony waving to everyone. He even went into the kitchen to shake hands with everyone in the restaurant. I was happy to have the President come to the restaurant, but unfortunately I was not there to welcome the VIP guests," he said with a laugh.
Spend 6 months enjoying only… luxurious food
After that visit, Pho 2000, which was already famous in Ho Chi Minh City, became even more famous. Many rumors also began to appear, some people said that the restaurant owner must have a "not-so-small" relationship to be able to invite the President to eat. When asked about this, the owner shook his head and said that it was not true.
Pho 2000 restaurant is crowded with customers, especially foreigners.
“Many people think I invited the President to dinner, but that is impossible because the US President, how can he know where they are, when they will arrive. It is all fate, and coincidence. Many people also say that since Mr. Bill Clinton came to eat, I changed the name to Pho 2000 to commemorate the event, but in fact that is not true, because I named this restaurant since it opened in 1999,” he explained.
In the 1990s, Mr. Tan and his wife became one of the pioneers in the high-end restaurant business in Ho Chi Minh City. The restaurant chains they opened one after another made a splash on the city's tourism map: Le Mekong, Vietnam House, Lemon Grass, Dalat House, Blue Gringer, Chef Lap... Unfortunately, the 1998 Asian financial crisis severely affected high-end brands, including Mr. Alain Tan's restaurants and hotels.
Mr. Alain Tan, Owner of Pho 2000 At this time, after decades of doing business in high-end French cuisine, the owner began to cherish the idea of doing fast food business, selling traditional Vietnamese dishes in a popular, quick and cheaper way. Among the countless popular street foods in Ho Chi Minh City such as pho, vermicelli, spring rolls, hu tieu, banh canh, banh khot, banh xeo... he chose to sell pho.
Pho restaurant at 210 Le Thanh Ton (District 1).
The restaurant has 2 floors, the upper floor mainly welcomes tourist groups with pre-arranged appointments.
“Wherever there is pho, there are Vietnamese people, and wherever there are Vietnamese people, there will definitely be pho. This is a typical dish, the soul of the Vietnamese people. To me, pho is a noble dish with the quintessential harmony of 18 spices, with the characteristics of soft and chewy noodles that do not break, with the way to eat rare or well-done meat…”, Mr. Alain Tan shared about the reason he chose to do business in this dish.
Since then, he and his wife - Mrs. Huynh My Truc Lien, whom he affectionately calls by the nickname "little Dao", have tried all the pho restaurants in the North and South for 6 months. Then the owner realized that each restaurant has its own way of cooking pho, a different flavor that cannot be mixed with anything else, pho in the North as well as the South has its own unique characteristics. From here, he selected the good and the good of those restaurants, and cooked pho again according to his own unique recipe.
A bowl of pho has rich, fragrant broth, soft, chewy noodles that don't break... that's what customers love about Mr. Tan's restaurant.
The price of each bowl of pho here ranges from 80,000 - 100,000 VND.
“I want to cook a bowl of pho without MSG, without sugar, with a traditional flavor that anyone, especially foreigners, will have to admit is a pure Vietnamese dish that cannot be mistaken for anything else,” the restaurant owner shared. From here, when he had his own recipe, the couple's pho restaurant was born, located on Vo Thi Sau Street (District 1).
He chose the name Pho 2000 for the restaurant because he wanted his restaurant to have a special mark when humanity was about to enter a new century. The pho restaurant with a completely new style, brought into a luxurious restaurant, cooked hygienically and served professionally, which Mr. Alain Tan called "raising the level of Vietnamese pho" quickly attracted a large number of customers at that time.
Mr. Huynh Trung Khai, son of Mr. TanAccording to the story, less than 3 months after opening the restaurant, customers lined up on Vo Thi Sau Street waiting to enjoy a bowl of pho 2000 of the couple. Up to now, the restaurant has a stable number of customers, all members of Mr. Tan's family, from his wife to his son and daughter-in-law, are wholeheartedly devoted to developing the restaurant.
90% are international guests
These days, Mr. Alain Tan's restaurant is regularly visited by customers, mostly foreigners. The owner said that 90% of the customers coming to his restaurant are international, the rest are Vietnamese. Here, each portion of pho ranges from 80,000 to 100,000 VND on average, depending on the dish and the customer's needs.
Mr. Khai inherited and developed his father's restaurant.
Mr. Tan's family devoted all their heart and effort to developing this special dish in Vietnamese cuisine.
For over 23 years, the owner has been working hard to bring his pho flavor to more people. “We don’t want to stop there! In the near future, we plan to bring pho to more countries, especially Korea, Australia, Japan, America… but not in Vietnamese areas but in places with a large concentration of locals,” said Huynh Trung Khai (Mr. Tan’s son). Khai and his wife are also the next generation in a family with three generations pursuing culinary pursuits.
However, Mr. Alain Tan believes that pho is a dish that if not highly focused on processing, will easily lose its quality. That is the reason why he is extremely cautious in developing his business. When opening any pho restaurant, he wants his family to be wholehearted, focus on the quality of the product to bring the best quality bowl of pho to customers, and must control the quality of the dish.
Mr. Alain Tan, owner of Pho 2000 restaurant"A successful business does not need to be big. When I can cook a dish that satisfies customers and treat my employees with love, that is what makes me happy, and that is also the greatest success of a restaurant owner," he said.
Mr. Tan is a native of Saigon, and his family sent him to the US to study in 1971. His father, Mr. Huynh Lap, was a famous ocean trader. He traded, delivered, and distributed goods from other countries to Saigon port, then shipped them throughout the South. In 1975, his whole family immigrated to the US. After many years of opening a high-end French restaurant in the US, Mr. Tan returned to Vietnam to live and work because of his special love for his homeland.
Ms. Huynh My Truc Lien (Mr. Tan's wife) is the one who develops her career with her husband.
The second time she came to eat at Pho 2000, Ms. Kim Jiae (38 years old, Korean) said she really liked the taste of pho here. Every time she has the opportunity to go to Vietnam, she and her family come here to enjoy it.
“This pho is near Ben Thanh market, so after visiting and buying some traditional Vietnamese items at the market, I will stop by to eat. The rich, aromatic broth and soft, chewy noodles are the best things about this bowl of pho. Plus, everyone here is very nice, and especially the restrooms are very clean!", commented a diner.
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