Viet Hong

Coming Up

University is the formal anchor in Viet Hong’s background, but the trade begins in service. In 2010, Viet Hong started as part-time service staff at a five-star hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, learning the pace of the room from the floor rather than the pass. That early work placed him inside the timing, pressure, and etiquette that shape hospitality when it is done well. Since 2024, Viet Hong has been chef-founder of CieL, where years of movement through fine dining now sit behind a single point of view.

Where They Are Now

"Fine dining is still a new experience for many Vietnamese diners. For those unfamiliar with it, walking into a space that feels too luxurious or formal can be intimidating. That’s why CieL welcomes guests with a graffiti-covered wall." At CieL, the room is doing hospitality before the menu is even read. The graffiti-covered wall lowers the formality of the setting and gives the dining room a less guarded first impression. For Viet Hong, that detail is practical as much as it is expressive: it narrows the distance between an unfamiliar style of dining and the guest at the door. The result is a room that opens the category rather than insisting on it.

Signature

Viet Hong’s signature dishes include Sujiko, amaebi tomato consommé tart, mushroom and pine nut mille-feuille, and butter-aged lobster with mangosteen and green curry. The list points to a kitchen working through contrast: salinity against brightness, depth against lift, structure against finesse. Sujiko gives one concentrated register, while the amaebi tomato consommé tart reads with clarity and precision. The mushroom and pine nut mille-feuille suggests layered construction, and the butter-aged lobster with mangosteen and green curry brings richness into contact with sharper fruit and spice. Taken together, the dishes show a cook attentive to composition and finish.

In Their Words “Fine dining is still a new experience for many Vietnamese diners. For those unfamiliar with it, walking into a space that feels too luxurious or formal can be intimidating. That’s why CieL welcomes guests with a graffiti-covered wall.” “After a long journey travelling and training at widely recognised kitchens, the more I learn through cooking, the more I find myself too tiny in this world.” That second line reads as a working chef’s measure of scale. The more Viet Hong learns through cooking, the less fixed the craft seems, and that is part of the discipline. It is an outlook that keeps the work open-ended: the kitchen is not a finished position, but a place of continuous adjustment.

Honors

Viet Hong's honors include MICHELIN Guide Vietnam Young Chef Award (2025).