Vietnamese restaurant brand Cô Thành is set to make its UK debut.
Founded in 2017 by Brian Woo and “grounded in the scenes and scents of Ho Chi Minh City”, Cô Thành will arrive in London in September, opening in Henrietta Street in Covent Garden.
The brand is a celebration of regional Vietnamese cuisine and a tribute to the late Nguyễn Thị Thanh, affectionately known as The Lunch Lady, whose daily-changing street-side noodle soups earned her a devoted following.
A formative trip to Vietnam in 2013 led Woo to train under Nguyễn’s guidance for three years, during which he immersed himself in the traditions of Vietnamese cuisine.
After Anthony Bourdain named Nguyễn Thị Thanh among his “Top 10 Wishlist” vendors for the highly anticipated Bourdain Market in New York, Woo reached out to the project team, which was eager to showcase her food.
With Nguyễn’s personal encouragement to continue her legacy and the market’s opening delayed, Woo opened Cô Thành in Hong Kong in 2017. Now he is taking the brand to London, bringing together signature dishes from the Hong Kong restaurant with London-only specials.
Dishes will include Bún Thái, a Vietnamese take on the sweet, salty, sour and spicy flavours of Thai cooking, and Bún Mắm, a vermicelli noodle soup made from fermented fish and shrimp paste broth.
Woo said: “London has always been a city I’ve admired for its creativity and diversity when it comes to food, so it’s a real honour to be joining that community. Everything I learned from Nguyễn Thị Thanh – the care she took with each dish, the pride in her ingredients, the way she connected with people through food – has stayed with me, and Cô Thành is my way of continuing her legacy.
I’m excited to share her recipes and the bold, vibrant flavours of Vietnam with a new audience, and hopefully create the same sense of warmth and connection she inspired in me.”
