Few recent Vancouver restaurant openings sparked as much excitement as the Lunch Lady did in the summer of 2020.
Its signage boasted “World-Famous Vietnamese Street Food,” and that immodest but truthful claim is likely to carry on when the second Canadian outpost opens in Toronto next spring. The menu’s foundational dishes are based upon the recipes of Nguyễn Thị Tần, the eponymous lunch lady, whose modest street stall in Ho Chi Minh City became famous when Anthony Bourdain raved about it in 2009 on the TV series No Reservations. Among those who travelled to try her food was Vancouver restaurateur Michael Tran. He convinced Nguyễn to sell him the trademarks for her recipes and allow him to open a bricks-and-mortar establishment. And now, its runaway success has compelled Tran and his partners — Victoria Tran, his mother; and chef Benedict Lim — to open a Toronto location, for which they are looking for a space on the burgeoning Ossington strip. Signature dishes from Vancouver (various iterations of phở, plus rice and vermicelli bowls) will be complemented by new creations that, Tran says, “reflect the uniqueness of the Toronto food scene,” such as the ubiquity of Caribbean cuisine.
We’re offering something exclusive to Toronto that blends authenticity with innovation.
–Michael White
