[VIDEO] From ICE To Icon: Tour NYC Restaurant Saigon Social with Chef Helen Nguyen

In the second episode of our “From ICE To ICON: My Restaurant Story” video series, Chef Helen takes viewers on an intimate tour of her popular Manhattan restaurant Saigon Social, from the dining room to the kitchen — and provides the story behind the Star Wars murals lining the walls that lead to the loo. 

First, however, she shares the restaurant’s origin story and the role culinary school played in its opening.

The Story Behind the Story of Saigon Social

Saigon Social was Chef Helen’s first restaurant. (It remains her only restaurant, though she is currently working on opening Saigon Social Express, a takeout service within the existing Saigon Social restaurant.)

An architect was hired to design the space. Sketches were produced; renderings were made. However, in the eleventh hour, Chef Helen nixed them to create something “very personal.”

Star Wars on the Walls

“At the time, there [were] a lot of Vietnamese restaurants in NYC,” she says, noting that she wanted to put her own stamp on the space. That stamp includes a Star Wars mural in the downstairs hallway depicting beloved characters eating Vietnamese food.

“When I was younger I had this really big fascination with Star Wars,” she says. “Nothing brings me much more happiness than seeing different elements of Star Wars.”

“Even with our music playing throughout service, you can hear people gasp as they walk down to the restroom … and then, as they enter, you can hear more oohs and aahs.”

In addition to Baby Yoda holding bahn mi and a bowl of pho, the mural’s artist gifted Chef Helen a life-size mural of Boba Fett in her image painted on the door to her office.

“I like to think that I’m a Mandalorian, and you gotta put that helmet and the gear on and go to war and really fight for what you believe in. And I fought for this restaurant.”

Indeed, she did.

Two Years in the Making

Saigon Social was slated to open in March 2020, the same month New York City shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (To be even more precise, it was slated to open March 13, 2020, the day before quarantine began.)

While this proved challenging, it also created opportunities.

Chef Helen turned her in-development restaurant into a commissary-meets-community kitchen, working with a local non-profit and recalling the staff she’d already hired to serve 800 meals a day to frontline workers and community members in need.

Two years later, in March 2022, Saigon Social officially opened to the public. Thanks partly to the food aid it provided during the pandemic, the New York Times wrote about its opening. Though this would be a win for any restaurant, it was particularly fortuitous for Saigon Social, which, according to Chef Helen, had zero budget for marketing.

Reservations were booked out, and within two days of Pete Wells’ positive NYT review, Chef Helen was informed she’d been nominated for a James Beard Award.

“You don’t realize how much of an impact you’re having and the community that you’re building when you’re in the process,” she says.”

In the time since the New York Times review, she’s appeared on The Today Show, Food Network, Vice’s “Munchies,” and Eater’s “Experts” YouTube series.

Getting From There to Here

As to how she got here, she explains her career change from a Seattle real estate broker to top-tier chef like this: “I fell in love with the [New York] City, the [restaurant] industry and the people.”

“I remember touring four or five different schools, and with ICE being in their new facility [at Brookfield Place in Manhattan], one of the things that called out to me was … being able to look out at the water — and being in that beautiful space.”

Her goals were simple: formal training; structure; learning the fundamentals; and acquiring professional, real-world cooking experience.

“I was able to achieve that very early on in the program,” she says. “The relationships that I built at ICE have been extremely valuable [and] extremely supportive beyond just my time there.”

Train + Cook + Connect

In fact, Chef Helen returns to ICE often.

“Sometimes, I go back just to say hi to the Chef-Instructors, and sometimes I go back for events.”

Chef Helen believes that relationships shape you — as a person and as a business — and, in her words, “play a huge role in your success.”

We couldn’t agree more. Congratulations, Chef Helen, on your achievements as both a member of the ICE family and a highly accomplished chef-restaurateur. 

* Experience varies by student, with outcomes contingent on factors including graduate aptitude, job market, place of residence and work history, among others.