“‘Keep going. One day, the dough will rise, the pizza will bake, that’s what Duong told me every day when I was struggling to find the recipe for naturally fermented pizza,” said Dang Van Thai, referring to his close friend Tran Van Duong.

For two years, they couldn’t count how many kilos of dough went to waste or how many pizzas failed. “Without Duong’s encouragement, I would’ve given up,” Thai said.

They were once shoe-shine kids roaming Hanoi’s streets, sharing single loaves of bread or VND1,000-2,000 rice meals without meat or fish.

“We’ve been through 34 years together, surviving the toughest times. Back then, I said my dream was to become a director. Everyone laughed, calling it a pipe dream. Only Thai believed in me. And now, we’re owners of a pizza restaurant. We’re ready to launch our own pizza chain,” Duong said.

From village to big city

Duong and Thai, both born in 1986, were neighbors from a poor village in Nguyen Ly Commune, Ly Nhan District, Ha Nam (now Nam Xang Commune, Ninh Binh Province).

After finishing primary school, Duong followed a relative to Hanoi to shine shoes and sell newspapers.

“I roamed the streets daily, shining shoes for VND1,500-2,000 per pair, renting a spot to sleep for VND1,500 a night. Tens of kids crammed into one room on rickety wooden planks. On the days I earned no money, I slept on sidewalks or under bridges,” Duong recounted.

Facing similar hardships, Thai followed his brother-in-law to Hanoi, shining shoes near Hang Co Station. Small and shy, he was bullied daily by bigger kids who stole his money or beat him.

Hearing that Duong was at Long Bien Bridge, Thai walked to find him. “Luckily, I found Duong. We started living and working together, looking out for each other,” Thai said.

They formed a small group with other kids, shining shoes in winter and selling newspapers, CDs and postcards to tourists in summer.

In1998-2000, Hanoi’s poor laborer slums were rife with drug addiction and theft.

“Another group once tried to pull me into stealing from wealthy homes in Hanoi. Fortunately, I stayed clear-headed, and Thai was there to keep me grounded,” Duong recalled.

The special customer

Their aimless, impoverished life seemed endless until Thai met a remarkable customer.

One summer afternoon in 2003, while wandering Thuy Khue Street, Thai spotted a foreign man. Despite knowing no English and being shy, Thai offered to shine his shoes.

The man agreed, and Thai got to work. Unbeknownst to him, the customer was Jimmy Pham, founder of KOTO, a social enterprise training underprivileged youth in hospitality and restaurant skills.

“He spoke fluent Vietnamese. After paying, he pointed to the KOTO center behind us and asked if I wanted to learn a trade there,” Thai said.

Eager to change their lives, they applied to the center. Duong and Thai were among 29 trainees accepted.

At KOTO, they entered an “unimaginably professional” environment, trained by local and foreign instructors in etiquette, life skills, basic communication, English, and hospitality and culinary skills.

After 18 months of training, they were placed in European-style restaurants. Over seven years, they worked across Hanoi, HCM City, and Khanh Hoa province, rising from kitchen assistants to head chefs and managers.

Becoming restaurant owners

In 2013, the duo returned to Hanoi. Confident in their experience and dreaming of their own restaurant, they pooled their savings and took loans to open a small bread and pastry shop in Hoan Kiem district in Hanoi.

Opening in the sweltering summer, the shop was deserted and soon closed. Their entrepreneurial dream collapsed, leaving them with millions of dong in debt. They returned to working for others.

In 2017, when the European-style restaurant where Duong worked planned to sell its brand, their entrepreneurial spirit reignited. 

To play it safe, Duong initially managed the restaurant, cooking and overseeing operations, while Thai worked elsewhere to earn money. 

Over six months, Duong shifted the restaurant’s focus to pizza and pasta, trained staff, and streamlined operations. As customers stabilized and profits grew, he called Thai: “Come back. Our restaurant is ready.”

After Covid-19, their restaurant on To Ngoc Van Street in Hanoi regained popularity, and is often fully booked on both floors at lunch and weekend evenings, with delivery orders citywide. Over 2,000 pizzas are sold monthly.

Many of their current staff are young people from difficult backgrounds, as Duong and Thai once were.

Linh Trang