I Architect/Chef/Owner
Mai House
Childhood nicknames are often discarded during one's
during one's journey through life, but no nick name is more
appropriate or prophetic than the one which was given to
Mai House's executive chef, Bao Michael Huynh. Bao, which
means special or precious in his native Vietnamese, is not
only the name given to two of his restaurants, but it is also
the perfect description for the unique culinary experience
that the self-taught Huynh creates with each dish.
The product of an architect and restauranteur, Huynh, know as "The Architect Chef," has
seamlessly merged childhood influences from his parents into a career that encapsulates many facets of the restaurant industry. Born in Saigon, Huynh's love of culinary pursuit was fostered by his mother, Nghia Nguyen, a cookbook author of traditional Vietnamese cuisine, as well as the owner
of Thuy, a successful restaurantin Vietnam. A precious child, Huynh started cooking at the age of twelve and even contributed a few recipes to one of his mother's cookbooks. Huynh's other influence, his father, Hy Huynh, was a respected architect whose works included the statute of Buddha on the hilltop of Vung Tau resort in Vietnam.
Recognizing that their son's talents could stretch far beyond their shores, Huynh left Ho Chi minh City in 1982 for America. He soon settted in upstate New York with his adopted family that owned an Italian restaurant. After a short period training and working as a sous chef, he soon climbed to the ranks to executive chef. While continuing as a chef, he decided to follow his father's footsteps and enrolled at the NY Institutes of Technology to study architecture in 1987.
After working at several restaurants, including Saigon Bistro, Huynh's two disciplines of architecture and culinary arts bean to merge. Soon he was designing, planning building restaurants with chefs
like Guy Rough of Mirabelle and Nello Balan of Nello. In September of 2002, Huynh opened his own restaurant Bao 111. Huynh quickly gained the reputation as a chef to watch. New York Magazine has recognized Huynh as of one of the BEST CHEFS of 2003.
