Quyen Phan

Anchovies & Salt, Vinason Pho Kitchen

Quyen spent his first 10 years in Vietnam on his family's black pepper plantation. He worked there, as well as in rice fields. One of his sisters had a coffee farm. They lived in South Vietnam where the soil was perfect for growing. Hard work was part of his upbringing. He was the youngest of nine children; the younger portion of the family (those under 21) moved to the U.S. when he was 10, and to Seattle when he was 12.

He worked hard in high school, was a 4.0 student, and worked as a janitor at Westlake and at McDonald's. He saved his money and bought a car at 15 and moved out of the house at 16. He was rebellious, but knew he always had the safety net of his family. He attended college and even when not in school, read books and the Wall Street Journal fueling his interest in finance.

In 2008 during the recession, his elder siblings moved to Seattle. His brothers-in-law couldn't find jobs, so Quyen started a landscaping construction company so they would all have work. "It was the first venture where I had to talk directly to customers and it was a big learning curve," he recalls. One of his sisters was working at a restaurant but was unhappy. He said, 'let me build you a restaurant.' His whole family could cook and his mom and two of his sisters had worked in restaurants. He bought the Renton Deli in the Renton Highlands, a small hole-in-the-wall, with his savings from the previous four years. "I wanted to give people everything, so we had a big menu. It was good food but too much work to just break even. I let it run its course for five years, while also running the landscaping company."

In 2013, he started wondering about a newer restaurant concept, something easier that would be more profitable. He did a case study on Chipotle, liked the concept, and realized there was no Vietnamese restaurant doing something like it. He wrote a business plan and started talking to landlords. It took two years to find a landlord who would give him a chance. The first Vinason Pho Kitchen opened in South Lake Union on February 24, 2016. The second location opened November 7, 2017, in Kent, with Sammamish as his third location opening in 2018. Kirkland on the Google campus opened in 2021, and his fifth location opened in SoDo in the King 5 building in 2022.

With saved money, he bought his first house from a bank and planned to remodel it. His new next door neighbor asked if he'd be interested in selling the neighbor his back yard so he could combine the yards and build another house. Quyen said yes and used part of the money for his remodel. "It made me think more about real estate and subdividing land." His wife, a pharmacist, also bought her first home from a bank. Quyen added real estate to his businesses (landscape construction, restaurants).

In 2023, he opened Anchovies & Salt, the largest Vietnamese restaurant in the world outside of Vietnam. It resides on Lake Washington in Renton, next door to the Hyatt Regency, and offers elevated Vietnamese food. Authentic recipes from the south, central, and north regions of the country marry local, fresh ingredients. He and his friends handled all the construction for the 9,000 square foot restaurant with two levels. The restaurant includes 2000 square feet of waterfront courtyard.

December 2023