In preparation of Cho77, the noodle bar ChoLon chef and co-owner Lon Symensma will debut this winter, he and chef de cuisine Ryan Gorby are eating their way across Southeast Asia. This blog series, written by Symensma, serves as a travelogue of the 12-day trip.

September 29, 2014: Saigon

Chef Ryan Gorby, who will lead the kitchen at Cho77 when it opens this winter, is with me right now on a trip to Southeast Asia. We’re hitting five cities in 12 days, looking for inspiration for the new menu, the interior, and the overall guest experience.

We’ve been in Saigon for the past three days and we went to ChoLon market to buy various things for Cho77 including chopsticks, bowls, serving pieces, baskets, and art. ChoLon is a Chinese-influenced section of Ho Chi Minh City. It lies on the west bank of the Saigon River. The Vietnamese name ChoLon literally means “Big Market.”

On our first night in Saigon we ate a huge meal that started with a dish made from goat brains, which have a nice creamy texture. We tried tamarind crab which had a perfect balance of hot, sour, salty, and sweet. Then we had caramel pork and pomelo salad—we’re hoping to play with both of these traditional Vietnamese dishes at Cho77.

October 2, 2014: Kuala Lumpur

With so much to see, hear, and taste, it’s difficult to retain all of the things that are inspiring Ryan and me. We’ve got lists of dishes we want to work on for Cho77, pictures of plating techniques and decorating ideas, and new ingredients to work with.

On our fourth day of the trip we headed to Kuala Lumpur to eat (of course) and to visit chef Thomas Griffiths, a mentor of mine from the Culinary Institute of America. Griffiths is a Certified Master Chef (there are only about 70 in the United States) and the global vice president for Campbell’s Culinary & Baking Institute. He’s responsible for managing more than 20 chefs working to increase Campbell’s culinary presence worldwide.

October 4, 2014: Penang

We arrived in Penang from Kuala Lumpur and my friend Bee Yinn Low, a well known food blogger who writes the Rasa Malaysia blog, picked us up at 7 a.m. We immediately started eating—there was no time to lose. With a mix of Chinese, Malay, Middle Eastern, and Indian flavors, Penang is by far the best food island in the world. The food in Malaysia is amazing. Ryan and I are pulling a lot of inspiration from this country. Next stop: Thailand!

October 8, 2014: Thailand

Ryan and I are traveling around Koh Samui, a small island off Thailand’s east coast. We’ve been eating a ton of noodles, including several versions of khao soi. The dish has wet noodles and then fried, dry noodles on top and is served with a curry broth. As one of our favorite noodle dishes, Ryan and I agree that we must have a version of khao soi on the new menu at Cho77.

We are off to Singapore tomorrow. It’s the last stop on our trip before we head back to Denver. I’m excited to give a lecture to the CIA Singapore students and see our former interns from ChoLon.

October 12: Singapore

Singapore is the best food city in the world. In my opinion, it’s even better than NYC and I lived there for 10 years. Ryan and I hung out with two of our old ChoLon interns from the CIA [Culinary Institute of America] campus in Singapore. We also spent the day with Eve Felder who runs the CIA in Singapore and is an old instructor of mine from CIA New York. She took us on a food tour and I gave a lecture to about 40 of the students on campus.

Saigon: Most residents get around on mopeds, which means that even grocery shopping is done on two wheels. This guy has everything neatly packed, stacked, and hung on his motorbike. You see this scenario all the time here. Ryan and I rented mopeds one day and had quite an adventure trying to get through rush-hour traffic
Saigon: The volume and colors of the fresh ingredients sold at ChoLon market are incredible. Everything is just-picked and so vibrant. It’s difficult not to over-buy at these markets
Saigon: You see a lot of people around the city using these balanced-shoulder baskets. If you look at photos of Saigon from the early 1900s, you’ll notice that not much has changed. These baskets are used by peddlers to carry and sell everything from coconuts to rambutans (sweet, sticky fruit with red spiny skin) and even noodle soups. Ryan is modeling the baskets we purchased in the market. We’re thinking about hanging them on a long brick wall inside Cho77
Saigon: We bought a food cart! It’s bicycle-driven, as are many of the carts in Saigon, and we’re shipping it back with a bunch of items that will decorate the interior of Cho77. Getting everything packed up and sent is quite a challenge
Saigon: Ryan and I went shopping at ChoLon market for Cho77. We saw this beautiful Buddha face and are shipping it back to hang inside the restaurant
Saigon: Ryan and I had the opportunity to serve as guest judges on Top Chef Vietnam with my friend chef Robert Danhi who’s the Tom Colicchio of Vietnam and has written two of my favorite cookbooks: Southeast Asian Flavors and Easy Thai Cooking. The episode we participated in was the “Christmas Challenge,” and the Vietnamese chefs were tasked with creating American, Christmas-inspired dishes
Kuala Lumpur: While visiting chef Griffiths, I participated on a chefs council doing research and development for new Asian products. We did an in-depth analysis of mee hailam, which is a popular noodle dish here. I did a presentation on cooking techniques and flavor analysis to Malaysian, Indonesian, and Australian employees of the company. We talked about how different cooking techniques change the flavors of the same ingredient
Kuala Lumpur: We enjoyed an incredible dinner at one of chef Griffiths’ favorite restaurants called Unique Seafood. The platter contained scallop ceviche, fried grouper with dragon fruit sauce, grilled calamari, and stir-fried seafood served in a noodle bowl. My favorite dish was the grouper with dragon fruit sauce
Kuala Lumpur: You know how in the U.S. you open a menu at a restaurant and order what sounds good? Here, you peruse the tanks and order what looks good. This is the display area in the front of the restaurant where we ate. We had geoduck sashimi, stir-fried abalone in oyster sauce, chili crab, steamed black bass, razor crab with a garlic condiment, and fried mantis prawn. On our last night, we went to Jalan Alor which is the downtown street food market in Kuala Lumpur. We ate an incredible dish of barbecued skate wing and stayed out way too late. It was hard to wake up at 4:30 am. for our flight to Penang, which is by far the best food island in the world
Penang: Bee, Ryan, and me on our first day in Penang outside of a hawker stall
Penang: There are food vendors all over the place. Instead of working out of a food truck like we do in the U.S., most hawkers simply set up shop in the street. We came across this guy stir-frying noodles over a gas flame in a way that’s very similar to how we make our noodles at ChoLon
Penang: We ate these delicious chicken wings that were marinated in a maltose (or malt sugar) solution to create perfect, crispy skin. We also tried an oyster omelet, which sounds weird but was really good—it’s something we’re hoping to try out on the Cho77 menu
Penang: Jackfruit, which is from the mulberry family, is often used in desserts or as a topping on sweet, sticky rice. The flesh is starchy and fibrous, and it tastes like a combination of apple, pineapple, mango, and banana. This is a single jackfruit; as the largest tree-borne fruit, they can grow up to 80 pounds
Penang: Kaya toast! Shown here plated traditionally, this treat was the inspiration for the dish that we serve at ChoLon
Penang: One dish that every visitor to Penang must try is asam laksa. Every food vendor claims to have the best one, but the most famous asam laksa stall in Penang is the one operating at the Air Itam market. The popular local dish is usually served with thick rice noodles and garnished with sliced cucumber, pineapples, onions, mint leaves, and a spoonful of thick prawn paste. We will definitely make a version of this at Cho77
Penang: This is a dish made with cuttlefish and jellyfish stir-fried with water spinach, sweet sauce, and chile sauce. This was my favorite dish of the day
Thailand: This is one of the many versions of khao soi we’ve eaten while we’ve been here. This one is served with chicken, crispy noodles on top, and soft noodles inside of a lightly curried coconut broth
Thailand: A cook at Nahm Restaurant makes kanom krok, which are delicious crispy and soft coconut cakes
Thailand: This is som tum or green papaya salad. This was on the opening menu at ChoLon and we will definitely offer it at Cho77. The green papaya for this spicy and crunchy salad is shredded and then beaten in a special, large wooden mortar and pestle. On my last trip to Thailand I carried one of these heavy mortar and pestles on my back for several weeks for the ChoLon opening. Now I will bring it over to Cho77 to use for the opening menu
Thailand: This is nam side gorg, also called sour isan sausage, being grilled on the street. It’s sour because it’s fermented before serving. The sausage is made from pork mixed with sticky rice
Singapore: The serious business of dim sum chefs making soup dumplings
Singapore: Kai and Giselle, two Singapore CIA interns who worked with us at ChoLon about a year ago
Singapore: Truffle soup dumplings! Ryan and I are going to put our own spin on these for ChoLon’s New Year’s Eve. Stay tuned for a foie gras–truffle soup dumpling special
Singapore: A picture of us with CIA students after my lecture
Singapore: A photo with chefs Eve Felder (right) and Gypsy Gifford (left). Chef Felder was my instructor at CIA in New York in 1999. She now runs the entire Singapore CIA school. Gypsy was one of my CIA classmates
Singapore: This is a rice porridge with breadsticks. You slowly incorporate the raw eggs into the hot porridge to barely cook them. This is something we hope to replicate at Cho77 this winter
Saigon: Most residents get around on mopeds, which means that even grocery shopping is done on two wheels. This guy has everything neatly packed, stacked, and hung on his motorbike. You see this scenario all the time here. Ryan and I rented mopeds one day and had quite an adventure trying to get through rush-hour traffic
Saigon: The volume and colors of the fresh ingredients sold at ChoLon market are incredible. Everything is just-picked and so vibrant. It’s difficult not to over-buy at these markets
Saigon: You see a lot of people around the city using these balanced-shoulder baskets. If you look at photos of Saigon from the early 1900s, you’ll notice that not much has changed. These baskets are used by peddlers to carry and sell everything from coconuts to rambutans (sweet, sticky fruit with red spiny skin) and even noodle soups. Ryan is modeling the baskets we purchased in the market. We’re thinking about hanging them on a long brick wall inside Cho77
Saigon: We bought a food cart! It’s bicycle-driven, as are many of the carts in Saigon, and we’re shipping it back with a bunch of items that will decorate the interior of Cho77. Getting everything packed up and sent is quite a challenge
Saigon: Ryan and I went shopping at ChoLon market for Cho77. We saw this beautiful Buddha face and are shipping it back to hang inside the restaurant
Saigon: Ryan and I had the opportunity to serve as guest judges on Top Chef Vietnam with my friend chef Robert Danhi who’s the Tom Colicchio of Vietnam and has written two of my favorite cookbooks: Southeast Asian Flavors and Easy Thai Cooking. The episode we participated in was the “Christmas Challenge,” and the Vietnamese chefs were tasked with creating American, Christmas-inspired dishes
Kuala Lumpur: While visiting chef Griffiths, I participated on a chefs council doing research and development for new Asian products. We did an in-depth analysis of mee hailam, which is a popular noodle dish here. I did a presentation on cooking techniques and flavor analysis to Malaysian, Indonesian, and Australian employees of the company. We talked about how different cooking techniques change the flavors of the same ingredient
Kuala Lumpur: We enjoyed an incredible dinner at one of chef Griffiths’ favorite restaurants called Unique Seafood. The platter contained scallop ceviche, fried grouper with dragon fruit sauce, grilled calamari, and stir-fried seafood served in a noodle bowl. My favorite dish was the grouper with dragon fruit sauce
Kuala Lumpur: You know how in the U.S. you open a menu at a restaurant and order what sounds good? Here, you peruse the tanks and order what looks good. This is the display area in the front of the restaurant where we ate. We had geoduck sashimi, stir-fried abalone in oyster sauce, chili crab, steamed black bass, razor crab with a garlic condiment, and fried mantis prawn. On our last night, we went to Jalan Alor which is the downtown street food market in Kuala Lumpur. We ate an incredible dish of barbecued skate wing and stayed out way too late. It was hard to wake up at 4:30 am. for our flight to Penang, which is by far the best food island in the world
Penang: Bee, Ryan, and me on our first day in Penang outside of a hawker stall
Penang: There are food vendors all over the place. Instead of working out of a food truck like we do in the U.S., most hawkers simply set up shop in the street. We came across this guy stir-frying noodles over a gas flame in a way that’s very similar to how we make our noodles at ChoLon
Penang: We ate these delicious chicken wings that were marinated in a maltose (or malt sugar) solution to create perfect, crispy skin. We also tried an oyster omelet, which sounds weird but was really good—it’s something we’re hoping to try out on the Cho77 menu
Penang: Jackfruit, which is from the mulberry family, is often used in desserts or as a topping on sweet, sticky rice. The flesh is starchy and fibrous, and it tastes like a combination of apple, pineapple, mango, and banana. This is a single jackfruit; as the largest tree-borne fruit, they can grow up to 80 pounds
Penang: Kaya toast! Shown here plated traditionally, this treat was the inspiration for the dish that we serve at ChoLon
Penang: One dish that every visitor to Penang must try is asam laksa. Every food vendor claims to have the best one, but the most famous asam laksa stall in Penang is the one operating at the Air Itam market. The popular local dish is usually served with thick rice noodles and garnished with sliced cucumber, pineapples, onions, mint leaves, and a spoonful of thick prawn paste. We will definitely make a version of this at Cho77
Penang: This is a dish made with cuttlefish and jellyfish stir-fried with water spinach, sweet sauce, and chile sauce. This was my favorite dish of the day
Thailand: This is one of the many versions of khao soi we’ve eaten while we’ve been here. This one is served with chicken, crispy noodles on top, and soft noodles inside of a lightly curried coconut broth
Thailand: A cook at Nahm Restaurant makes kanom krok, which are delicious crispy and soft coconut cakes
Thailand: This is som tum or green papaya salad. This was on the opening menu at ChoLon and we will definitely offer it at Cho77. The green papaya for this spicy and crunchy salad is shredded and then beaten in a special, large wooden mortar and pestle. On my last trip to Thailand I carried one of these heavy mortar and pestles on my back for several weeks for the ChoLon opening. Now I will bring it over to Cho77 to use for the opening menu
Thailand: This is nam side gorg, also called sour isan sausage, being grilled on the street. It’s sour because it’s fermented before serving. The sausage is made from pork mixed with sticky rice
Singapore: The serious business of dim sum chefs making soup dumplings
Singapore: Kai and Giselle, two Singapore CIA interns who worked with us at ChoLon about a year ago
Singapore: Truffle soup dumplings! Ryan and I are going to put our own spin on these for ChoLon’s New Year’s Eve. Stay tuned for a foie gras–truffle soup dumpling special
Singapore: A picture of us with CIA students after my lecture
Singapore: A photo with chefs Eve Felder (right) and Gypsy Gifford (left). Chef Felder was my instructor at CIA in New York in 1999. She now runs the entire Singapore CIA school. Gypsy was one of my CIA classmates
Singapore: This is a rice porridge with breadsticks. You slowly incorporate the raw eggs into the hot porridge to barely cook them. This is something we hope to replicate at Cho77 this winter