Luke Nguyen is a renowned chef of Vietnamese origin in Australia. He owns many restaurants, has written cook books and is the presenter of a show on TV.
Luke's parents fled from Vietnam as boat people and sailed over to reach Thailand where Luke was born in 1978. Thereafter they migrated to Australia where his passion for cooking evolved from the restaurant run by his parents in Cabramatta a local suburb of South Western Sydney for 15 years. This was the stepping stone where he learnt the aspects and nuances of Vietnamese cooking. He worked at various hotels under established chefs and honed his skills in cooking. In 2002 he began his foremost restaurant known as Red Lantern over a converted terrace where classic and traditional Vietnamese food was served.
Luke Nguyen won the Best New Restaurant award for his restaurant Red Lantern in the year 2002 from Sydney Eats Guide.
The restaurant was further awarded the Best Asian Restaurant in Sydney by the Restaurant and Catering Association.
He is also the brand ambassador of many products on television.
In a rare honor in the year 2004, the Australian Embassy and Asia Society invited Luke to host as well as cook over a two day event known as 'Tastes of Asia, Dine At Red Lantern' at Makati in Philippines. Luke was asked to be the representative of Asian Australians to continue to build a bridge of understanding between the West and Asia, celebrating its 30 year relationship.
Luke Nguyen began appearing on television in the year 2005 with a five part documentary known as "Heat in the kitchen" showcasing the working life of three restaurant entrepreneurs in Sydney Australia. He was chosen to collaborate between Asia and Australia for fostering friendly relations. In 2006 he went on to appear in a ten part food show called "Food Safari" featuring Vietnamese cuisine. He has also made appearances on television endorsing products through advertisements and is fondly called Australia's "Pork Star".
Presently he hosts Luke Nguyen's Vietnam, a food based documentary wherein he travels across Vietnam, cooking like street vendors over the country, generally making the dish over the sidewalk.
Luke Nguyen authored cookbooks including
both based on Vietnamese cooking.