Restaurant Spotlight: Vui's Kitchen
Vui Hunt of Vui’s Kitchen sits down for a Q&A.
Vui’s Kitchen, a Nashville staple serving Vietnamese favorites founded by Vui and John Hunt, opened its fourth location and first in Williamson County on July 1 in Franklin.
The Cool Springs location is at 1201 Liberty Pike, #113, in the Liberty Station development. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, offering dine-in, delivery and curbside pickup. www.vuiskitchen.com
Vui’s has three other locations in Nashville, located at Berry Hill, Hunter’s Station and Germantown, and the Hunts also own I Love Juice Bar, which has locations in 12 states. We got a chance to catch up with Vui Hunt to chat about the new restaurant and how she got her start in Middle Tennessee.
CJ: You were born in Vietnam and moved to Atlanta when you were little. Tell us a little bit about how you got to Nashville from Atlanta.
VH: The short story is that my husband was originally from Nashville, and all of his family is here. I was ready for a change after being in Atlanta for over 20 years, and he wanted to return home and be closer to them. Best decision ever!
The longer story is that right when we started dating, I had the chance to buy the restaurant where I worked for over 10 years, and John was hugely supportive of that. Our dating looked like John and I working together at the restaurant. It immediately felt right and made sense. It was a very exciting time for us. We painted and redecorated and made menu changes, and it all just felt normal from day one to be together and work together. Ultimately, though, we lost our lease and life changed again; that was our chance to leave Atlanta and move here.
CJ: You also own I Love Juice Bar in addition to Vui’s Kitchen. How are they different, and what do you like about each concept?
VH: John and I started Juice Bar in Brentwood together not long after moving from Atlanta, and then a couple of years after that, we opened Vui’s Kitchen in Berry Hill. We prioritize fresh ingredients, whole foods and very clean menu offerings at both concepts, but the food itself is different. At Vui’s Kitchen, we’re serving up Vietnamese food from my childhood, and at Juice Bar, we offer juices, smoothies, bowls and snacks. They are both places where we take lots of pride and effort to prepare everything fresh and to create happy, nourished bellies.
CJ: When did you first have the idea to start your own restaurant? Do you have plans to franchise Vui’s Kitchen someday?
VH: We hadn’t been planning to open Vui’s Kitchen; we didn’t even have the name. We were in Berry Hill working hard at our second location of Juice Bar, and our neighbor’s space became available. We were thinking of expanding Juice Bar into her space, but then in a flash of imagination, we thought, “wow, why don’t we create a Vietnamese restaurant?!”
I had always dreamed about having a simple Vietnamese food truck, and we knew immediately that was the plan. We signed the lease right away and began working on the menu at night after Juice Bar closed for the day. We wanted to keep it very simple and approachable, so Vui’s Kitchen is my interpretation of all the foods I grew up with. What we create are truly foods from my heart; every day at work, I am immersed in memories of my childhood, learning about food from my mom, uncles and grandparents in Vietnam.
Cooking and being in hospitality are, for me, a very natural way of life. I am lucky that my passion is food and that I get to connect with others and love and nourish people this way.
As for growing Vui’s, who knows? We really want to focus first locally on getting it right. It sounds fun to grow (and we’ve done that before with Juice Bar), but for now, we just want to buckle down and do a great job where we are. One day at a time!
CJ: Why did you choose Franklin as your next location for Vui’s Kitchen? What drew you to Franklin?
VH: When we first moved from Atlanta, we lived in Franklin for almost three years. Our girls were born there, and I worked at Whole Foods. It was a very sweet, wonderful time in my life, and many of my Whole Foods customers are dear friends to this day. I’m so thankful and for the ever-growing community all around us. Ever since we first started Vui’s Kitchen, I wanted to open one in Franklin; it just made sense. Everyone was so warm and welcoming when I first moved here, and seeing so many people we still know brings me a lot of joy. I have the chance to share fresh and delicious food from my life, and it is beyond a dream for me. Franklin — and, more broadly, Williamson County — is a great place for anyone to consider opening a business, but for me, it was also a more personal choice. From the parking lot at Vui’s Kitchen, I can see the hospital where both of my daughters were born, and seeing that every day feels pretty special already.
CJ: You and your husband John are partners. How does that work, and how do you balance work and family? (My husband and I also own two businesses together and we work together.)
VH: For us, it works great! Maybe it’s not for everybody, but we couldn’t imagine it any other way. We are very like-minded in how we care for people. Hospitality is just in our blood; whether you are in our home or in one of our restaurants, we enjoy creating a space and taking care of you. Engaging with guests and team members is very energizing for us, and it motivates us to do more.
John had some corporate jobs during the first couple of years while we started a family, and we considered about 15 different things, from opening a hot yoga studio to nail salons. The goal was always to be together.
We don’t ever just fully clock out; having a business together is a lot like having a third child — always on our minds, in our conversations and needing something. Some days are hard, and it’s all in perspective. We just get through it together. We rely on each other and instinctively know how the other will handle or approach daily wins and challenges. We say, “please,” and, “thank you,” all of the time and know to trust each other’s decision making. Sure, we have miscommunications and things — that’s normal — but we don’t then blame each other or get upset.
We often remember a piece of wisdom we got from an older gentleman on our honeymoon: “Life can be hard enough as it is, you kids just don’t blame each other on top of it.” We have thankfully carried that idea with us ever since, and working together just works for us. Plus, he knows that I’m smarter and that I’m the boss, ha!
CJ: How did your upbringing as a child in Vietnam shape who you are today? Did your mom have a big impact on you becoming a chef and coming to the U.S.?
VH: Like many Asian parents that I know, my mom wanted me to be a doctor, dentist or accountant. She was a single-parent superhero with seven children in Vietnam during and after the war. She had to figure everything out on her own, even when she was a young girl. I mostly missed elementary school, as I was with her while she traded coffee beans and gasoline to feed us. The lessons I learned were: “Don’t wait for someone to ask you to do something, just go ahead and do it;” “Do it great and do it quickly;” “Don’t wait for life to take care of you, it won’t, you have to go out and make it happen;” “Life will bring hard times, that’s just the way it is.”
She taught me to keep moving forward, no matter what, and do what you can do. If something doesn’t work out, just keep moving forward (and complaining won’t really help). Just work hard, be grateful and take care of those you love. It sounds trite, but every day was survival day in Vietnam. Put others first, tell the truth, be real, work hard and no matter how difficult or scarce it might be, you can still be generous and share with others. I only had one pair of shoes (sandals) each year and only two little outfits growing up. We didn’t have toys, and we played outside year-round. Life was about family, food and looking out for each other.
CJ: Community and giving back are important to you. Talk about the ways you plan to give back to the Franklin community and what programs you now offer to help give back.
VH: Sharing and being generous are very important to me. In Nashville, we have collaborated with and supported Nashville Food Project, Thistle Farms, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Crossroads Dog Adoption and the Nashville Humane Association (to name a few). In simpler times, we like to have quarterly community giving days when we donate 5% of sales to a local nonprofit, often nominated by our community or team members. One of our core values is “we participate in and add value to our local community,” and we pride ourselves on keeping that central to our company identity.
What is your favorite thing to do on a day off (assuming you occasionally have a day off; I always see you working)?
Well, I love working! Thank you for coming in to see me! When we are free, we love being active and outside. John and I start almost every day with an early morning hike in Percy Warner Park. It’s a great way to feel grounded and to clear our minds, to connect on all things work and home. John and I are climbing partners also; any chance we get, you can find us on the walls at Climb Nashville. With our girls, we hike and bike a lot, too, and have a huge garden at home where they love finding things to pick every morning. When we’re not hiking, biking or climbing, we are at home.
CJ: What is one of your favorite restaurants in Williamson County? What about your two girls, do they have a favorite? Do your girls like to cook?
VH: There are so many places to choose from! We really like Herban Market, Sopapillas and the vendors at the Franklin Farmers Market. It’s hard to choose, but I really like Oscar’s Taco Shop. It is simple and straightforward, and it makes me think of so many little places that are like that in Vietnam — little places without frills, just yummy food, nice people and a very simple approach. I love that.
CJ: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you professionally and personally?
VH: COVID-19, for us, like many people, has been one of the hardest things we’ve faced, but, in some ways, it has resulted in some of our greatest outcomes. At Vui’s Kitchen, I am so proud of the team working so hard to quickly adapt to changing conditions. We quickly pivoted and re-invented how we do things, including launching a full delivery program from ground zero. We have had to fight every day to make it happen and stay open, and that comes with a lot of really tough decisions. The day-to-day uncertainty and having to let employees go temporarily was all emotionally very hard. And yet, for us personally, our family has never spent more quality time together. The chaos of life was gone, and we really embraced even more simple quality time together outside, at home gardening and, yes, cooking.