Thomas Wolfe may believe you can never go home again, but some of our best and brightest chefs are St. Louis natives who have done just that. After traveling the globe, cooking at esteemed restaurants, and garnering experience in top kitchens, Tony Nguyen decided that returning home feels right.
Nguyen and his wife and business partner, chef Jessica Osborne-Nguyen, plan to open a new restaurant, Snō, in the former VP Square space (3611 Juniata) in Tower Grove South in late summer or early fall. The restaurant is named after Nguyen’s mom, whose name, Tuyet, translates to “snow” in Vietnamese.
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“It’s a great space,” says Nguyen. “It has two floors with a bar on each floor.” Nguyen will utilize the expansive upstairs space, which seats around 120, for restaurant dining, as well as for private and special events. The first floor is about half the size. “We can seat about 60 people down here.”
Nguyen is not afraid to use the term “chef-driven” when describing the concept: a modern Asian restaurant serving small plates with a strong focus on dim sum. Don’t expect your traditional siu mai and turnip cake, though. In L.A., Nguyen became famous for his tailored, contemporary dim sum that utilizes luxury ingredients. “At Crustacean, we were serving dumplings that were $5 or $6 per piece. In St. Louis, we’re going to offer that level of dumpling and service, but in a non-pretentious space and at a much lower cost.”
Entrée-size large plates, such as prime steak, will be offered alongside memorable vegetable preparations. Another area of heavy focus will be sustainable seafood. (Osborne-Nguyen is not only a chef but also a marine biologist.)
Service and style are important to Nguyen, with the restaurant incorporating interactive table-side dishes. “I want this to not only be a place where you go for a special date,” Nguyen says. “You can come enjoy great food after a ballgame and in the middle of the week with a friend.”
Nguyen began his formal culinary training at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. During his early years as a cook, he worked with master chefs, Adam Sobel of Guy Savoy and Lou Rook of Annie Gunn’s, at the James Beard House in New York City. Nguyen then decided to continue on the academia route, earning his degree from Cornell University in hotel and restaurant management. After graduation, Nguyen worked prestigious restaurants across the country. At Kim Son in Houston, for instance, Tony learned under chef Tri La and honed his skills utilizing Asian aromatics, herbs, and spices.
Nguyen also spent time working with Rick Moonen, whose ideas about ethical, ecological seafood and fishery practices earned him the informal title of the “godfather of sustainability.” That mentorship helped inform and cement Nguyen’s dedication to sourcing ingredients from suppliers who practice and advocate for sustainable farming and fishing. And his time at L’atelier de Joel Robuchon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas prepared him for the level of fine dining that he would offer as executive chef at Crustacean, one of the essential high-end restaurants in Beverly Hills. It was at Crustacean that Nguyen gained recognition for his innovative, sleek dishes inflected with Asian ingredients, European technique, and a modern, highly composed style.
With a bit of friendly prodding, Nguyen will share stories of some of the celebrities who visited restaurants where he previously worked, such as Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan, “I’ve cooked for lots of people,” Nguyen says, noting Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and P Diddy among other past guests.
Plans to open a second L.A.-based restaurant, Da Lat Rose, with his mentor, chef Helene An, were sidelined by the pandemic. Now, Nguyen is dedicated to creating a successful restaurant in his hometown. “We signed a five-year lease,” Nguyen says. “When I decided I wanted to do something from the heart and open this restaurant, I wanted to return home and be part of what is happening in St. Louis.”
