Bucks County-raised Chad Kubanoff, having dropped out of the Culinary Institute of America, knocked on the doors of Daniel (in New York) and Alinea (in Chicago) to get his real-world experience in classical and modern cooking.
But it was an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations that really made him attempt something bold:
Flying to Vietnam and landing an executive chef's job at a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City - directing a staff of 18 without knowing the language.
"Something got me fired up," Kubanoff said,
Eventually, he met and fell in love, and he and his wife, Thuy, founded a tour company called Back of the Bike Tours, showcasing Vietnamese street food.
After seven or so years, Kubanoff, now 28, and his wife have relocated to his hometown. The business remains.
In March, they hope to open Same Same, a restaurant specializing in Vietnamese street food, at 614 N. Second St. in Northern Liberties. The location was Copper and later Koo Zee Doo before a Mexican joint called El Capitan occupied it for five minutes. Realtor Veronica Gintel Blum of Mallin Panchelli Nadel found him the space; restaurant consultant Harris Eckstut is helping him navigate bureaucracy.
Same Same - a riff on a Vietnamese expression ("it's the same, but not the same," Kubanoff explains) - will serve a variety of soups, salads, sandwiches, snacks, desserts and house-made beverages. See the menu here. Most of the menu can be made gluten-free and/or vegetarian.
Figure on $7 to $10 per plate. It will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 5 to 9 p.m. daily.
This article is from wwwphilly.com
But it was an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations that really made him attempt something bold:
Flying to Vietnam and landing an executive chef's job at a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City - directing a staff of 18 without knowing the language.
"Something got me fired up," Kubanoff said,
Eventually, he met and fell in love, and he and his wife, Thuy, founded a tour company called Back of the Bike Tours, showcasing Vietnamese street food.
After seven or so years, Kubanoff, now 28, and his wife have relocated to his hometown. The business remains.
In March, they hope to open Same Same, a restaurant specializing in Vietnamese street food, at 614 N. Second St. in Northern Liberties. The location was Copper and later Koo Zee Doo before a Mexican joint called El Capitan occupied it for five minutes. Realtor Veronica Gintel Blum of Mallin Panchelli Nadel found him the space; restaurant consultant Harris Eckstut is helping him navigate bureaucracy.
Same Same - a riff on a Vietnamese expression ("it's the same, but not the same," Kubanoff explains) - will serve a variety of soups, salads, sandwiches, snacks, desserts and house-made beverages. See the menu here. Most of the menu can be made gluten-free and/or vegetarian.
Figure on $7 to $10 per plate. It will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 5 to 9 p.m. daily.
This article is from wwwphilly.com