OutVoo Interview with Chef Tu David Phu



Conducted by Ian Ippolito & Merced Gonzalez



Today we are talking to Chef Tu David Phu, a contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef, and one of Oakland’s very own. Since Oakland is where OutVoo was born, we are thrilled that Chef Phu is a fan of the app:

“Whenever I open up Yelp I want to know what’s near me and the thing I hate about Yelp is I have to type in where I am and what I’m looking for specifically. [OutVoo] does that all for me!”

What were your initial thoughts of Oakland?

When my parents first immigrated over here they landed in Oakland. My dad received a job offer in Minnesota, but after a couple of winters, and my sister getting frost bite, we returned. Basically I’ve been in Oakland all my life. I grew up in Oakland in the 90’s. It was tough. Like murder capital tough! I’m not the person to be resentful of that. I feel like within chaos and bad things there is always beauty. I think the beauty that I had growing up in Oakland was cooking with my mom, having our own little tiny garden in the tiny apartment we lived in. I found preciousness in the things we were blessed with.

Oakland is experiencing a culinary renaissance. What are your thoughts on the food scene?

I think it’s great! I think it’s more diverse now. The only thing I’m really sad about is the homeless situation. I want to invite everyone to Oakland and I think that’s beautiful, but I just wish there was more regulation on the people who were displaced.

I think the Mayor is working on a few things.

I think the issue is bigger than the Mayor of Oakland. I don’t blame the City of Oakland. It’s the flaws that we have in our systems. There is something wrong and we pour money into building more prison systems and a fraction of that could house a lot of homeless people in California.

When you complain about politics everything is intertwined. In that aspect I believe in prevention and I think prevention starts at youth.

Were you surprised by this culinary renaissance?

I’ve always believed in Oakland. I’ve always thought Oakland has so many amazing offerings. Not just cuisine wise, but also ethnic wise. There are so many different cultures. I didn’t really appreciate it until I moved away. Then when I moved away I understood that Oakland is going to blow up so hard. I moved away in 2010, I was in New York for 2 years.

Top Chef! What was it like?

It was amazing! When I signed on to the show…it was to have fun, interact, network and build a brand. I felt Top Chef was the perfect opportunity for me to tell my story to a bigger audience. I found that work very purposeful.

Coincidentally enough, there was an episode where I was able to work with immigrant women at Comal Heritage Food Incubator. I worked with South American women who made green mole and pork for me. I worked with Syrian women. I’m not sure if it was in the episode. There was a moment where we were exchanging our immigrant stories and they told me that they were in a refugee camp for 10 years. My parents were in a refugee camp for one year during the Vietnam war. I understand because I hear the stories from my family. They were telling me the stories of the hardships they went through. They looked at me and said, “All we want to do is be able to cook.” That sheer rawness of emotion and purity made me feel close to them. I felt the suffering they felt through my own family and I had this human compassion moment. I started shedding tears, Tanya Holland started sharing tears and a few of the other ethnic people started shedding tears. Some people just can’t relate and I don’t hold that against them. The ethnic immigrant story and the suffering that comes along with it is very specific. It resonates throughout generations. I see it in the blood, sweat and tears of my parents working hard every fucking day. They were janitors at the Fox Theater. I have a tattoo of it. They really did almost every laborious job you can probably think of to make ends meet. In my personal experience, specifically being on Top Chef, the most powerful thing that inspired me was that moment working with those women. And I said on TV, this is probably the best meal I’ve ever had, partly because of the stories and compassion. The centuries old recipes. They made hummus that was beautiful. They made lentil soup that was so simple but delicious. It was all hand made, they’re not fine dining trained, but at the same time I can confidently say I cannot execute the way they executed it. At that moment it just confirmed my notion and perception of cuisine and where it comes from. In that moment I championed them and continue to champion the root of cuisine which is usually mothers and aunties. The funny thing is, I’m a fine dining trained Chef, and I champion women, and that is were cuisine comes from, but that is not reflective in the industry. It’s weird to me that there is a lack of women in the industry because it’s so machismo. Not to say women should be cooking, I’m just saying that the best food I’ve ever had came mostly from women. So it’s revisiting that notion. If there is any pinnacle, peak of Top Chef, that inspired me, that would be the moment.

Has Top Chef affected your career? Has it changed your plans?

Are you talking about direct messages in Instagram? (laughter)

It gets scary sometimes. There are extreme fans and regular fans, but I think for the most part, my portrayal on the show has been very positive. And I think if you don’t give TV crap they can’t shoot crap out. I was just myself and I wasn’t trying to be anybody else. It turned out for the good.

You were a likable, lovable kind of guy, and you helped other people.

It’s not even about the point of me helping people out, I just was raised well. That’s what my parents taught me. I’ve been a Chef for a kitchen for a few restaurants and there are young cooks to this day that I keep in close relationships with. And I was very cognizant of how I behaved. I do commencement speeches and I speak to and I hang out with kids. I cook with them and I’m aware of the way I conduct myself and that what I role model could inspire and influence them in some way. At least I hope so. So that is why I try to make sure to be positive. I think it’s very important. Not all Chefs think this way. They can be egocentric, whatever it takes to win …

It’s a competition, and you’re in a different element, some people snap.

If I’m going to beat someone, I want to beat them at their best. I don’t want to beat somebody by default. The reason why I helped out Bruce is because Bruce and I knew each other prior. We were colleagues and we had somewhat of a friendship. But I wanted to challenge Bruce, I wanted to have the opportunity to challenge Bruce. That’s the whole reason why I went on the show, I went to see my excellence versus your excellence. I’m very happy with the Top Chef cast and we’re all a family and I’m very happy with the way I did. I think just getting on the show was an accomplishment. You know how many people apply for the show? Thousands and thousands.

Was it a long process?

I went through several interviews. I applied for Season 14 and they told me to come back the next year. I came back and got on. There are some people on the show that apply like five, six times in a row, so I got lucky, food timing, they were in need of a token Asian guy! (laughter)

So the amazing and funny thing is that when I got the phone call from Paolo Lucchesi about the Rising Star Chef, the following month they called me to let me know I was on Top Chef. I was like, oh my God, somebody’s looking down on me.

And through that course of a year it was very rough, I had a friend that was murdered and I had an Uncle pass away. So it was a rough year. I felt like those were blessings from them. I’m not suggesting that I’m religious but I am spiritual and I felt like those were blessings that I’m very appreciative of, you know? Especially with family and friends and people close to you. Would I rather have the accolades and opportunity or would I rather have them? I would rather have them in my life. So that is the thing with these opportunities, more than focusing on the win, but just embracing the opportunity and just representing yourself and your story well. I feel like that is the most important thing.

Hung Thanh 1895 Fish Sauce. Tell us about this!

It’s my family’s fish sauce that we’ve been making for over a hundred years. I’m very very proud of it. I feel like—I’m trying not to be biased–but I’ve tasted a lot of product blindly among my peers, my colleagues, my friends and we all agree that my families sauce is best! (laughter)

Where can we buy it?

My sister is working on distribution to the states. The conversation has begun but to announce a release date would be premature. I don’t want to be irresponsible.

Is your cousin running the company?

Yes, he is. They’ve won tons of awards and accolades! They currently sell it in Vietnam and Japan. They even sell to some chefs in Japan and they sell to a distributor in Japan where they re-label it as a Japanese product. And they sell it in France as well too. A bunch of French Chefs in France love the stuff. And that’s the thing, if your product is good and the leading culinary nations buy from you, then you’re doing something right.

You’ve got to send me this playlist!

Chef’s Hawker Centre …

My new baby!

I had to look up Hawker Centre

The term is derived from Singapore and the way I spell Centre everybody gives me shit for it, C-E-N-T-R-E. That’s the British way to spell Centre. It derives from Singapore but it exists all over Asia, specifically countries that exist along the South China Sea. It was a courtyard where everyone would have a kiosk and all walks of life would go there, rich, poor, that’s where you go to get your food. Period. Frequently visiting Vietnam I found a certain beauty in that. People were gathering from all different walks of life. You can have a millionaire or a government official and a peasant kid and they’re all sitting at the same table eating and they are all somewhat interacting. I wished Westerners would embrace that more. I feel like in the 2000s leading up to 2018 there is this elitism that we have that we’re not conscious of. And what it boils down to is if you want better food, better quality, it reflects in the amount you pay. So what does that suggest for poor people? That means poor people would never be found in those establishments. That means poor people would be kept far away. To remind you, I grew up fairly poor. And that is why I wanted to offer the Chef’s Hawker Centre. I wanted to offer a middle price point where it wasn’t an elitist thing. It was people from all walks of life that can join and eat, and share a table. It’s very Oakland. Even though it’s very Asian. I take that across the nation. Especially with the current political climate. Everyone is very divided. Everyone is very angry at each other. Everybody has their own reasons to be upset and I think most importantly after we get angry the next step is to stop and listen. Start to understand. Have compassion for each other. I think a great way to do that is at the dining table.

How do you find the different Chefs?

Every city I go to I try to do four seatings. Two per day. I would cook at at least one of those sittings. Just so there is a feature. Partnering with other Chefs, sponsored by Cochan555 and Feastly among other key brands which keeps the price point and the impact on the consumer low. It’s $99 for nine courses, alcohol included, it’s a great deal. It’s a very creative, outside of the box model, mainly for me personally to build my consumer base. It’s a way to market and I think it is cheaper to do that and more efficient to do that because I’m personally connecting with diners, not just through the dinners, but also through social media with a story attached.

Thank you for sitting down to interview with us!