Hey, everybody. Stop what you're doing and take a moment to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Nguyen Tran of Starry Kitchen.
Who are you?
Former Asian American film geek gone banana suit wearing bossman sometimes know as... Nguyen Tran! And "yes," having lived with my name for at least 35 years now I am very SURE my FIRST name is Nguyen, even though it's a super common last name and even though my first name is actually pronounced differently than the last name (it's all about the different French accent marks!)
What are you?
I'm a Sagittarius... a semi-decent Uno player ("UNO!")... a lover of that-there Karaoke (or noraebang if I'm in K-town)... and oh yeah, I'm also an accidental restaurateur going on 3.5 legitimate years (that's a long accident) of a thing/place/"restaurant" called Starry Kitchen we started illegally+underground in our apartment over 4 years ago. But I'm most proud of being a mediocre Uno player.
Where are you?
Physically: At my new home at the Grand Star Jazz Club (@ 943 N. Broadway y'all!) where our restaurant now resides... right behind the new badASS Bruce Lee statue (the only one of its kind in ALL of North America... so badASS!)
Spiritually: still happily baffled that the unintentional gamble of starting an illegal+underground restaurant in 2009 has made it this far... who woulda thunk it?!?!
Where are you from?
Ethnically: Vietnam
Geographically: Born in Fairfax, Virginia, raised in Dallas, TX and then moved to LA in 2002 to work in the film business (which clearly worked out ;D)... where I reside in "the valley" in toasty Van Nuys, CA!
In my wildest dreams: the forest moon of Endor because I think it would be nice to form a soccer league with Ewoks for some strange reason (probably because their lower center of gravity would increase my probability of winning... at least I would HOPE!)
What do you do?
I try to operate a restaurant (that I've moved twice in 3 years!) while I wear a banana suit to work at times... when I'm not wearing my lederhosen, inflatable taun-taun, Darth Vader outfit, huge sombrero, pervy old sailor outfit (aka Commodore Booty McHooters) or one of my multitude of pervy (yet stylish) looking fake mustaches even though I have a rare Asian super-power to grow a facial hair.
What are you all about?
I'm all about finding a really good pack of instant noodles that is packed w/ more sodium than anyone should intake in a lifetime with an equal balance of... UMAMI FLAVOR! (while also trying to succeed in this incredibly tough game of restaurants... but the umami packed instant ramen helps a lot too ^_^)
What makes you angry?
The feeling of when I "coulda... shoulda... woulda" done something, and I didn't. It's all consuming, and I know better...
That and seeing perfectly good+untouched food being thrown away into the trash that people spent time preparing without consideration that SOMEONE (less fortunate or otherwise) could enjoy that. HUGE pet peeve. Ask my staff, I go apeshit when I see that happen in our kitchen. If we spent time and love making something, why not share it with someone that would appreciate it whether it's a paying customer or a homeless person.
...or a nasty pack of instant noodles (that can really ruin a day/week/month/sometimes year).
