The Chinese, Japanese, French, and Americans have left their culinary and cultural mark on us. We explore the development of original Vietnamese cuisine against a historical backdrop, from the development of Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City. Traveling upstream on the Saigon River toward Cambodia, we convey the significance and "flair" of the "American War" for the Vietnamese people, right up to the current development into a vibrant, growing economic metropolis and culinary center of the Asia-Pacific region.

Saigon is surrounded by the most fertile geographical and climatic conditions on earth. To the north lies the temperate Tây Nguyên region, the western plateau with its fruit and vegetable farms around Dalat; to the east and southeast lie the fish-rich South China Sea; and directly adjacent to the city's south are the mangroves and marshlands of the Mekong Delta with their abundance of exotic fruits, rice, and freshwater fish. Follow us on a culinary journey from wholesale trade and wet markets directly to the table in the colorful gastronomic world of Southeast Asia's culinary metropolis.

The Mekong Delta is a network of tributaries south of Ho Chi Minh City. The region's humid coastal geography makes it an important source of water for the country's agriculture and aquaculture. The fertile alluvial soils produce up to three rice harvests a year. Daily life in this region is connected to water; particularly in the mangrove swamps in the south of the delta, people live, work, and reside on the water, surrounded by saltwater-tolerant mangrove trees.

Our partner and friend in culinary Vietnam is the Cambodian-born, French-raised "Grand Chef" and gastronomic entrepreneur Sakal Phoeung . Sakal is not only co-owner of three iconic Saigon dining concepts: "Le Corto," "P'ti Saigon," and "Livannah Sips & Bites," but also president of the "Disciples Escoffier Vietnam."

In February 2025, he led Team Vietnam to the "Bocuse d'Or" competition in Lyon for the first time - where the world's elite chefs from 24 countries compete in creativity and precision.