Joshua Zukas

MICHELIN Guide • 7th March 2024

Female Chefs in Vietnam Thrive in The Kitchen

8th March is International Women’s Day, and in Vietnam, it’s a big deal. Traditionally, the day has propelled children to buy flowers for their mothers and husbands to cook meals for their wives. It’s also a day for get-togethers, and it’s still common to see large groups of women dressed in colourful ao dai taking photos in parks, restaurants, and coffee shops. But in more recent years, International Women’s Day has also become an opportunity to rethink traditional gender roles in society.

MICHELIN Guide • 10th February 2024

Behind The Bib: Hồng Phát

The unlikely story behind hủ tiếu, a cherished Saigonese noodle soup dish.

Going Places (Malaysia Airlines) • 1st February 2024

Cover Story: Saigon Steps Up to The Plate

"Most travellers' perception of [food in] Vietnam is stuck in the Bourdain era." So what's changed?

Insider • 30th December 2023

One family has been running Hanoi's best fish noodle shop for 20 years. They swear the secret to their success lives in the tree next door.

"It's a goddess. Her name is Bà Đông Cuông."

MICHELIN Guide • 17th November 2023

Where to Eat and Stay in Hanoi's French Quarter

The French designed the French Quarter’s street plan over a century ago, but the Vietnamese have since made it their own. Motorbikes course through the streets, coffee shops spill onto the pavements, and parasite architecture abounds, adding a textured aesthetic to the orderly European blueprint. The French Quarter is also a culinary hub. Of the 48 restaurants listed in the MICHELIN Guide Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City 2023, around a third in Hanoi are in this part of the city. In recent years, t

Insider • 11th December 2023

I think the Michelin Guide missed Hanoi's 5 best street food spots

When the Michelin Guide to dropped earlier this year, they really stirred the pot. Exasperated netizens took to social media and ruthlessly criticized the list, with a lot of anger targeted at the street food recommendations. "It'

MICHELIN Guide - Vasta Stone • 26th December 2023

Recasting Vietnamese Identity

Sam Tran, co-founder and head chef at one-MICHELIN-Starred restaurant Gia, shares her recipe for a quintessentially modern Vietnamese dining experience.

MICHELIN Guide - Visa • 29th November 2023

How Vietnamese Chefs Are Harnessing Flavours to Push Culinary Boundaries

Ensconced in an alleyway in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1, Nén Light, MICHELIN Guide Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City 2023, feels a world apart from the roaring streets of Vietnam’s biggest metropolis. Swarming around the restaurant are motorbikes and cars that ceaselessly tear through the city, but nestled within sit curious diners contemplating their spotlighted plates. There’s a lot to take in before taking that first bite. The atmosphere is relaxed and pensive as the diners chatter over the c

1843 • 8th May 2020

All The Rage: What the Vietnamese Are Eating

Vietnam is the world’s leading exporter of dragon fruit, most of which goes to China. The spread of covid-19 has impeded this trade, leaving hard-hit farmers with mounds of unsold produce.

Silkwinds (SilkAir) • 2nd December 2019

City by the Sea: Danang's An Thuong Neighbourhood

Danang is a city of bright lights and glinting bridges hemmed in by sweeping bays and jungle-topped mountains. It is regularly referred to as Vietnam’s most liveable city, and it’s easy to see why. The food scene is booming, the energy is youthful and a dip in the ocean is never more than a few minutes away.

Insider • 14th October 2023

He's Trying to Charge $100 for Phở in Ho Chi Minh City. That's 50 Times The Usual Price. I Had to Try It.

"The implicit rule of phở is: Don't fuck with phở." Those were the words of Peter Cuong Franklin, the founder and head chef at Anan Saigon, when he gave me his take on phở's controversial history earlier this year.

MICHELIN Guide • 24th July 2023

Friend Or Pho: Who Really Invented Vietnam’s National Dish?

The MICHELIN Guide to Vietnam lists 16 pho restaurants across Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. But which city can claim to serve the most authentic, appetising, and archetypal version of Vietnam’s cherished noodle soup dish?

Sawasdee (Thai Airways) • 1st May 2023

Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh City Pocket Guide

There’s a spirited sibling rivalry between Vietnam’s two major metropolises. Hanoi basks in its 1,000-year-old history, boasting grand architectural heritage and legendary food culture. By contrast, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Hanoi’s younger and

Smile (Cebu Pacific) • 1st May 2023

24 Hours in Truc Bach

Hanoi-based travel writer Joshua Zukas takes a stroll through Truc Bach, a neighbourhood that, despite being encroached by the Old Quarter and West Lake, still maintains a unique identity

MICHELIN Guide • 14th September 2023

Refugee Turned Banker Turned Chef

Few chefs have a backstory as colourful as Peter Cuong Franklin’s. Born in a war-ravaged Vietnam, Franklin fled the country as a child in 1975, resettled in the United States, and graduated from Yale. He then launched himself into investment banking, a career path that took him across the world.