While many restaurateurs expand to new cities and new formats, Kei Concepts founder and chef, Viet Nguyen, is doing the opposite. For the grand finale of the first phase of his company’s plan, he’s going home.
Nguyen’s upcoming restaurant, Qua, is billed as a contemporary Chinese eatery through a Vietnamese lens. The restaurant is the result of six years of research and an $8 million investment. But for Nguyen, it’s also a personal project, his family’s gastronomic narrative that bridges yesterday and today.
Qua, slated to open in November, will have a menu that takes inspiration from Chợ Lớn, Saigon’s historic Chinatown where generations of immigrants from various Chinese regions helped shape the local cuisine. Nguyen’s family is part of that story; not only did Nguyen grow up in Chợ Lớn, but it’s where his grandmother, Vũ Thị Lan, fled North Vietnam and where she raised her 10 children.
Nguyen, who was born in Ho Chi Minh City nearly four decades ago, discovered this personal connection only in recent years. His research revealed that his family, with the last name Vu, was technically Chinese by blood, having migrated from the Fujian province centuries ago. “I feel like almost 60% of what I ate when I grew up was Chinese food, and I didn’t even know it,” he said. “The more I look into it…this is a story I really want to tell.”
The menu also syncs with Kei Concepts’ fusional bent; for example, Ini Restaurante is Nguyen’s Japanese-Italian restaurant prepared with a Vietnamese touch, and Vox Kitchen offers Pan-Asian fare inspired by Chifa, the Peruvian-Chinese culinary movement that melds Peruvian and Cantonese tastes.
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The food at Qua is what Nguyen called Vietnamese-Chinese food, Chinese food on a Vietnamese stage. “If you go to Din Tai Fung, you will see Chinese food from a Shanghainese lens, if you go to Paradise Dynasty, they look at it from a Singaporean point of view, but if you come to our restaurant, it’s going to be Chinese food from a Vietnamese point of view,” explained Nguyen.
Qua’s menu will feature banquet-style sharing, with dishes like siu-mei roast meats, oyster pancakes, hủ tiếu noodles, and Hainanese chicken rice. “It will be very family-style and we’ve never had that before” at Kei Concepts’ other restaurants. He added, “We’re going to keep updating the menu. We’re going to start with a very small menu, and then we’re going to add new items every single week, so that when you come in for the first year, there will be something new until we finalize the menu.”
The restaurant will also feature a rotating specials menu, “Grandama Vũ’s Menu,” inspired by his grandmother’s recipes. Her autobiography, translated into English, will also be available for guests to read. Qau will feature a cocktail program as well as seasonal and pantry products like mooncakes, Tết sticky rice cakes, saté paste, kaya jam and dessert kits.
With its ample 10,000 square feet, 15-foot ceilings and seating for 190 guests, Qua will be a space for spirited gatherings, with interiors by design agency HBA. Anchoring Qua will be a 32-seat bar surrounded by dining areas, private rooms and a patio. Vintage photographs from Nguyen’s family gracing the walls will help boost its family-style vibe.
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Its name also holds dual meaning: a nod to the “quarter” in Chinese Quarter, and a Vietnamese word that roughly translates “to overcome.” For Nguyen, the name is especially poignant as the project survived significant personal and professional hardships in 2023 and 2024. “It’s very emotional, intensely personal,” he said.
With Qua, Nguyen isn’t only adding a new eatery to his portfolio. He’s honoring his family, preserving his heritage and introducing Orange County to a new kind of food. It’s a bold statement that concluded the first chapter of Kei Concepts and sets the stage for a new phase to come.
Qua will open inside the same plaza as Vox Kitchen in Fountain Valley. Kei Concepts, founded in 2014, includes Nếp Cafe, Kin Craft Ramen & Izakaya, Rol Hand Bar, Ini Restaurante, Kei Coffeehouse, Sup Noodle Bar and Vox Kitchen.