During his first visit to Vietnam a decade ago, accompanied by a group of iconoclast Wall Street venture capitalists, Chinn saw the un-mined potential for culinary growth in a country where tourism was still in its infancy. “I realized there were no cutting edge Western restaurants in Hanoi, and was attuned to the growing demand for Vietnamese food in the States. There were no Vietnamese cookbooks in bookstores! This was a sure sign of opportunity to invent something new here,” Bobby recalls.

When not in the kitchen or watching out for potential traffic accidents from street side cafes, Bobby, always a hands-on restaurateur-cook, also mixes it up with his guests, and plays guitar. Pictured above is himself with former US Ambassador Pete Peterson and   Saxophone master Quyen Van Minh.

Bobby Chinn’s story is eclectic and a story worth telling.

“It took me a while to figure out that I was an ethnic mutt. Half Egyptian, half Chinese, born in New Zealand, educated primarily in England, with a sense that San Francisco was home. I was privileged to be brought up with two grandmothers who were both really great cooks. My Chinese grandmother was from Shanghai and made Chinese food that I had never tasted in any restaurant anywhere. She was cooking a “fusion” type of Chinese food back in the 50’s, substituting for ingredients that were not readily available in the U.S. at that time. Some how she made light sauces, greaseless noodles, and tastes that were entirely unique. My Egyptian grandmother cooked in all manners of North African food - she makes a wicked couscous, Bisteeya, and desserts that are highly addictive. Quite frankly, I do not remember ever having a bad meal until I arrived at boarding school in England.”

Bobby received a BA in Finance and Economics, moved to New York City and began working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at 11 Wall Street. Quickly disillusioned, he left in search of something/anything that he loved. He tried a bit of everything - from attempting to sell seafood to the mob, to stand up comedy - and along the way, he also discovered his love and talent for cooking. To make ends meet, Bobby worked as a runner, busboy, and server in various restaurants. His culinary education began in earnest when, while waiting tables, he began hanging out in the kitchen of Elka, a cutting-edge, Franco-Japanese restaurant in San Francisco. Later, renowned chef Hubert Keller of Fleur De Lys took Bobby in and enabled him to further develop his skills. He would later work with chefs Jeffery Inahara, Traci des Jardin, and Gary Danko. After reading Burgundy Stars, he went off to apprentice in Bordeaux and Paris. Chinn has run several highly acclaimed restaurants in Vietnam before opening Restaurant Bobby Chinn, including Camargue, Saigon Joe’s in Ho Chi Minh City, Miro, and the Red Onion Bistro in the Hanoi Towers (formerly the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison).

In his signature restaurant, the chef-restaurateur's personality is evident in every unconventional detail: an exquisite contemporary art collection, carefully sound-proofed acoustic design, thousands of fresh roses a week, wireless internet connection for patrons and the wheelchair-accessible restrooms (still an anomaly in Vietnam).

“My previous restaurants were driven by the food - in this one, we’ve built a restaurant where the ambience stands up to the food,” says Bobby, “We do things here that no one else does. You can’t be in this business just for the money - it’s a labor of love.”