Nguyen << nwihn >>, Luke (1978-…), is a Vietnamese Australian chef, restaurant owner, author, and television host. He became known as the chef and co-owner of the Vietnamese restaurant Red Lantern in Sydney, Australia. In 2002, at the age of 23, Nguyen partnered with his sister, Pauline, and the Australian chef Mark Jensen to open Red Lantern. The restaurant’s menu featured many of the Nguyen family’s traditional Vietnamese recipes. In 2012, the three partners opened a second restaurant, Red Lantern on Riley & Red Lily Cocktail Bar.
Nguyen has written several award-winning cookbooks. Secrets of the Red Lantern: Stories and Vietnamese Recipes from the Heart (2008) is both a cookbook and a memoir. The book features family recipes and stories, particularly stories about the family’s migration from Vietnam to Australia. Nguyen has also hosted such popular television travel programs as “Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam” (2010-2011), “Luke Nguyen’s Memories of the Mekong” (2012-2013), “Luke Nguyen’s France” (2014), “Luke Nguyen’s Railway Vietnam” (2019), and “Luke Nguyen’s India” (2023). In the mid-2010’s, Nguyen opened GRAIN, a cooking school in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Nguyen was born on Sept. 8, 1978, in a refugee camp in Thailand. His family had fled Vietnam in the aftermath of the Vietnam War (1957-1975). When he was several months old, the family migrated by boat to Australia. Nguyen’s parents owned a restaurant in Cabramatta, a suburb of Sydney, and Nguyen began working at the restaurant from a young age.
