Michael Huynh is planning to leave New York City. The founder of the Baoguette and countless other Vietnam-inspired restaurants is sick of the Big Apple and is planning to move back to Vietnam for the simple reason that the rent of his restaurants is now just too high to cope with.
“Only the landlords make money,” Huynh told reporter Gael Greene of The Braiser. It is because of this fact that Huynh has sold off the great majority of his restaurants, with the exceptions of a carryout place known as BaoBQ and his banh mi shops.
As one last hurrah in New York City, Huynh is set to open up one last new restaurant in the West Village, to be known as Bao, a “modern classic” Vietnamese restaurant. After that, Huynh is quitting New York City and is planning on relocation back to Vietnam “for good”.
Huynh admits that he is simply exhausted with it all. “I’m getting old, and I’m tired of the restaurant business in New York,” he acknowledges. “It’s easier to make money in Vietnam right now.” On this at least Huynh certainly appears to have a point, with the ridiculous exchange rate that the Motherland is enjoying right now and the fact that it sometimes seems as though absolutely everybody really loves their Prada in Ho Chi Minh City. Should Huynh open a Brooklyn Diner that comes with artisanal fare such as “clam chowder, corned beef [and] pastrami” on the menu, it could be a big success.
