What’s your connection to Brimbank?
I have lived in North Sunshine for 25 years. My family and myself opened a restaurant around three years ago on Hampshire Road in the heart of Sunshine and have been serving the community authentic Vietnamese food ever since.
What do you like best about the area?
What I love about the area is our sense of community. There are so many small businesses on Hampshire Road. You get all the benefits that small business has to offer, the customer service, the pride of ownership and the community atmosphere. For example, our restaurant sources all our meat from Sunshine butchers – they know us, we know them. We also source all our vegetables from Sunshine Fruit Market.
What do you think could be done to improve Brimbank?
Our backyard is looking better than ever and it’s time to capitalise on this. The area needs to move away from being just another convenience centre for routine products and needs to change into a people and customer-focused area. An area where customers like to spend time, wander, meet friends, stay for lunch and explore the offerings, be it public spaces, great retail mix or community events.
Tell us about your journey to Australia and the life you’ve set up here.
My family’s journey to Australia is typical of the Vietnamese boatperson’s story. A deprived refugee fleeing communist Vietnam during the Vietnam War, to being lucky enough to find a new homeland, and then having the determination to create a new life in this new homeland.
To escape the war we had to barter our property. We left Vietnam on a small boat with 40 people. After 14 days at sea we landed in Hong Kong and were taken to a refugee camp. Not all of my family made it. We stayed there nine months before coming to Australia under sponsorship. Immediately upon arrival to Melbourne I began seeing and embracing the Australian way of life.
What’s been the greatest obstacle you’ve encountered since coming over?
I grew up making and selling food on the side of the street in Vietnam. I have always been known among family and friends for being a good cook. However, with little understanding on how to run a business in Australia I never felt brave enough to open up my own restaurant. It wasn’t until my children were old enough and experienced enough to guide me through the complexities of running a small business that I gathered up enough courage to take the plunge.
How do you incorporate your native culture into the Brimbank community?
Our restaurant brings our native food culture to the Brimbank community. It services a small menu of northern Vietnamese classics. We specialise in banh cuon. These are rice noodle crepes, delicate and almost translucent, lightly filled and rolled up.
