The Bureau Podcast

Bureau Bites is a regular "pod-bite" bringing you the latest news from Vietnam and the region.

Episode Background

We ask Linh Le, principal founder of Luxperia, an inbound travel company tailoring boutique travel experiences throughout Asia, the following questions:

1. What impact is COVID-19 having on tourism in Vietnam at the moment?

2. What are the short-term and long-term repercussions that the industry can expect?

3. What are companies like Luxperia doing to survive this downturn?

Bureau Bites is a regular "pod-bite" bringing you the latest news from Vietnam and the region.

Background

1. What immediate impact is the decision to close bars and clubs going to have on businesses in the hospitality industry?

2. Why have restaurants been spared for now?

3. What's the long-term impact going to be for Saigon's hospitality industry?

4. What options are there for people who still want to dine out or go for a drink?

In this "sporty" episode on location at much-loved Saigon pub Coolabah, we celebrate International Women's Day with special guest Naomi Skinner (namrunsnam.com) who has spent the past 6 months running 2,000km from Hanoi to Saigon to raise money for charity. On her rest day, she pops in and tells us over a few sneaky "rehydrating" beers about her odyssey and how she reckons roadside dogs in southern Vietnam are way more chilled than their northern counterparts who, she says, "chase to kill".  On the panel, Matt and Mel are joined by the effervescent Jackie Lam who's filling in for Mike this episode. Jackie is a wine connoisseur and with her husband has grown a successful wine distribution business called RADA Vietnam (ilovewines.vn) supplying premium Australian wines to consumers Vietnam-wide. We also find out that she loves nothing better than (with a glass of vino in hand, of course) watching her AFL Sydney Swans boys run around the field in their tighty tight shorts and flexing their rippling muscles . We also get on The Bureau Hotline and cold-call concierges from three 5-star hotels in Saigon and ask them to recommend a bar and a restaurant to take our lovely lady for International Women's Day. #GetExcited     

In the 2020 return of The Bureau Podcast, Matt, Mike & Mel get straight into Bureau Bites, a segment in which they tell each other what they've got up to related to F&B in Saigon since the previous episode. Mel revisits some old favourite dining haunts from over a decade ago, Mike let's us know about a new burger joint in town, and Matt introduces his #MealsOnWheels side project on Instagram that has him visiting the best street food joints he can find on his motorbike. During The Bureau Hotline segment, the 3M's give carnivore-turned-vegan Hien Tran a call. Hien is passionate about sustainable food production, animal welfare, farming, cooking and eating. He has his own blog called Green Schug (www.greenschug.com) and is also a mentor for Challenge22 (www.challenge22.com), a project that supports people transitioning towards becoming vegan. Then in the final segment Get Excited, the trio reveal one thing each that's got them excited about trying. #GetExcited!

In this "Royal-themed" episode with Matt, Mike & Mel, The Bureau Briefs returns in which Mel gives a big tick of approval to an iconic Saigon teahouse & bakery that has reopened its doors, but then stunningly cries "foul" over a much-hyped (and highly-rated) flame grilled chicken restaurant new to town. Meanwhile, Mike pays out on Matt for taking him on their own wild goose chase in search of a new Japanese-themed venue out the back blocks of Thu Duc. We give the Queen of Sambal, Imelda Van der Wulp of Imelda's Kitchen, a call and she talks us through an eye-watering taste test of her beautifully fragrant and spicy new batch of authentic Indonesian sambal made right here in Saigon, after which we roll out the first category of our Best of The Bureau 2019 cocktail bars. Finally, as usual, we give a shout out to some interesting social media accounts that we like from Vietnam and the region, followed by our final observations on what's happening in hospitality in Saigon. #GetExcited!

In another fun-packed episode with Matt, Mike & Mel, The Bureau Briefs is back bigger than ever in which we chat about some of the many events we wriggled our way into AND didn’t quite make it to over the past two weeks, we get the lowdown on the Harper's Bazaar Vietnam Star Awards night of nights, we get all fuzzy and excited about some new arrivals on the Saigon foodie scene, and we announce the prizes for next month's Movember.

This episode The Bureau Briefs is back with some of the events we wriggled our way into over the past fortnight, we drool over some of Saigon’s best set lunches for business meetings as recommended by 5-star hotel concierges about the city, then we get all fuzzy and excited about some new arrivals on the scene, and finally, we give a shout out to some of our favourite influencers. Get excited!

In this episode of The Bureau Podcast we’re at long-running, neighbourhood favourite Ruby Soho, a Saigon bar dedicated to pop-culture and the love of music, we introduce The Bureau Briefs, a new segment in which we review our past week or so in hospitality, we reveal what's got us excited in F&B since our last episode, and we chat to our headliner, French animator and Ruby Soho owner, Fred Serra, about his radio station project that creates playlists to dine for. Mike also gets humiliated by Mel in our pub quiz! Get excited!

This week on The Bureau Podcast we’re at The Studio Saigon and we chat about what’s got us excited in F&B in Saigon since our last episode, the "bartist" Richie Fawcett steps in for Mike who's gone MIA in Danang, and we chat with architect Dr Hoanh Tran about Saigon's rapidly changing skyline and its gentrification, while Richie talks about his Cloud 9 Project. 

In this episode on location at Fresh Catch Vietnam, we chat about what's got us excited in F&B in Saigon since our last episode, we sink our teeth into Beyond Burgers, then catch up with serial Saigon restaurateur Albin Deforges to talk about seafood sustainability, we "sip test" two beers about to be released on the market, and we ask, what ever happened to the Strawpocalypse?