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The 70 hard-working staff of a Dubai-based restaurant chain are having a fantastic start to the Lunar New Year, thanks to their employer.
Owner and executive chef of award-winning restaurant Vietnamese Foodies, Lily Hoa Nguyen, is sharing the day’s profit, generated on January 31, to her staff in ‘red envelope’ tradition, she told Khaleej Times.
“This is the fourth time we are running this initiative on the Lunar New Year,” explained Lily. A home-grown concept, Vietnamese Foodies, encouraged all the restaurant patrons to thank its staff by ordering delivery or dining-in in any of the four branches of the restaurant on January 31.
All revenue, minus food costs, generated on the last day of January - Lunar New Year’s Eve – was shared amongst the family-owned restaurant’s staff.
The restaurant’s four branches are located at – Jumeriah Lake Towers, Downtown Dubai, Nakheel Mall and Time Out Market Dubai. “About 40 of the staff, including chefs, working at the restaurant chain are from Vietnam. The Lunar New Year is an important time of the year for the Vietnamese,” Lily explained.
The Lunar New Year in Vietnam is typically a time for family and friends to gather and a time to invite luck and good fortune for the year ahead. It’s also a time when elder family members give Hong Pao, or red envelopes, containing a symbolic amount of money to younger family members.
“As a child, I would really look forward to receiving these red envelopes from the elders in our family,” she added. Lily followed her husband to Dubai after finding a job in the Emirate. “I’ve been a resident for six years. After running a cooking class in Istanbul for a few years, I decided to open a physical location here in Dubai. We started as a team of ten persons; today, we are 70-strong,” she stated.
Lily said she couldn’t be prouder of her team than this year. “Like everyone, we have faced a challenging couple of years, and despite it all, my team has worked diligently and professionally to serve up delicious, healthy Vietnamese food with love and care,” she added.
The restaurant has earned a name for serving up Vietnamese specialities such as its signature Pho, a choice of fresh salads, signature dishes, authentic Banh Mi, and over 17 fresh and flavourful Vegan dishes.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com
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