I love Chau Veggie’s Golden Temple Soup. It’s rich and brothy, and loaded with vegetables; the kind of thing you crave when you’re feeling sick, wiped out, or just a little lost in the world. It’s carried me through grief and brutal workdays; providing me with both a ritual and rescue. I’ve shared it with friends and family — hell, I’d share it with a stranger if they looked like they needed it.

So when in November 2024 owner Maria Huynh announced that, after 13 years, Chau Veggie was closing doors – marking the end of an era for the beloved plant-based Vietnamese restaurant – I panicked. A lot of people did.

After shutting down, Huynh traveled to the Indonesian island where her family once found refuge, to reflect and honour those lost. As she listened to her mother’s stories, remembered the dishes she shared with her late father, and considered the ways food had always anchored her family’s history, she also reconnected with something deeper inside of her. In the end, Huynh returned to Vancouver with a new vision: not a rejection of the past, but an evolution of it.

“The story of food and restaurants runs deep in our family, and in the Vietnamese community in Vancouver. Our family has been in this business since the ’80s,” she says. “In the beginning, when our family lived in RayCam low-income housing in Strathcona, my mom was cooking every day and the focus was on Phở and Bánh mì. My mother was the first in Vancouver to make traditional beef balls for our Phở, which led to Vietnamese cold cuts, pâté, and head cheese—things we also supplied to restaurants and small grocery stores around town.”

Over time, that early focus on family and food transformed. When Chau Veggie first opened, it wasn’t fully vegan — eggs, honey, and butter were all on offer. But as the plant-based movement gained momentum, and the family became more conscious of its health implications, they shifted the concept entirely. They had been running a fully vegan kitchen for the past seven years. Now, after more than a decade of listening, learning, and adapting, Huynh is ready for another shift: “Now it’s time for us to take all of that wisdom, combine it with new information and our family history, and express what is important to us.”

“I want to serve more than just vegetables,” she explains. “Some dishes are essential to my culture and my family’s story, and I want that to be part of how I connect with the larger community — authentically.” The next iteration of her restaurant will move away from strictly vegan options, introducing ingredients like grass-fed butter, carefully selected meats, and the option to add an organic egg— because, as she puts it, “That’s how I enjoy these dishes with my family.”

It’s a shift that isn’t just about tradition, but also about sustainability, wellness, and food integrity. “We’re thinking about plants, but also toxins and the environment,” says Huynh. “There has been a lot of illness in my family — my mother had a brain tumour, then an autoimmune disease, and my father passed from lung cancer. Our focus has always been on family and health, and now it’s evolving to holistic wellness.”

That means scrutinizing every ingredient. “For example, we want to offer traditional Vietnamese coffee, but we’ll be using local organic Avalon whole milk to make our own condensed milk instead of the traditional canned version that’s traveled all the way from Vietnam — think about the gas emissions, the production lines, the chemicals involved in cleaning the production line. There’s all of this that we don’t think about as consumers, but it all adds up, for the planet and in our bodies. Avalon is right here, and they are organic, why not start from home?”

Huynh is also thinking beyond food. “Emotional wellness is a major part of my focus too,” she says. “As a restaurant owner, after all these years — and growing up in restaurants — I think about how to make my family and staff feel cared for and I think about these added environmental and chemical costs. I ask myself, how can I make a difference? How can I sprinkle change in — not only for myself but also for my own children, my mother, and for the people who work long days in the kitchen? How can I sprinkle this consideration in for everybody, so I feel better knowing what I’ve learned is being applied?”

This shift away from a fully vegan concept isn’t about taking sides — it’s about defining her personal path. “We have to choose where we want to focus our energy instead of picking and choosing sides. People who flow in and out of different diets — and that is a reality that we’ve always respected as a restaurant. I’ve learned and also been inspired by the vegan community to have more vegetables on my plate, for sure! But, for me, the emphasis has always been on sustainability, Mother Earth, and how I can sprinkle in health—that’s what I focus on.”

At the core of it all, Huynh knows that a restaurant’s first order of business is to deliver on taste. “Restaurants can’t survive if the food doesn’t taste good — because you might as well just steam some carrots and chickpeas and eat at home. At Chau Cafe, we’re working to make things tasty by using as many natural flavours as possible.” That also means reducing hidden health risks. “For example, I’d rather use an iron skillet over aluminum pots and pans. I’ll choose monk fruit over sugar. Non-medicated meats. And I want organic over conventional eggs and dairy.”

But food is more than just ingredients. It’s also about intention. “When I say I want to slow down, I mean intentional eating. Being mindful of what we’re eating, actually enjoying it, and paying attention to how it makes us feel.”

That mindfulness will also show up on the menu in unexpected ways. “When my mom is strong and something from her past sparks a memory, we’ll often cook together — usually arguing over a traditional dish before I start ‘healthifying’ it,” she says, laughing. “With our new menu, we’ll have the chance to feature those dishes for the month, offering something that carries deep, wholesome memories but is also good for our bodies. Something meaningful, nutrient-rich—something that truly nourishes and helps us heal, because that’s what we all need.”

So, does it all simply boil down to balance? Or is it about something deeper? “I think about the different stages we go through in life. Maybe this is just my stage of how I want to share and express myself. We’re always striving for balance, but life is full of chaos. So instead of chasing that, I’m focusing on what’s inside — my core, my story. That’s how I want to express it. That’s my own personal guiding light.”

Expect a balance of refreshed classics and unchanged longtime favourites alongside a few new additions, such as: Sunrise Fresh Rolls, bringing a light, herbaceous mix of poached chicken breast, young green papaya, quinoa, vermicelli, and toasted rice, paired with a garlic lemon sauce; and the Mai Mai Plate, featuring lemongrass chicken with garlic-infused grass-fed mash and kimchi (all chicken will be sourced antibiotic-free). As Huynh explains: “Mai Mai means ‘forever’ – this family favourite was also one of my dad’s last requested meals.” Other new arrivals include: Pâté Sô, a rotating puff pastry filled with either potatoes and vegetables or chicken; and the Wok Veggie of the Week, which shifts between produce like okra, beets, or baby bok choy, wok-tossed in a soy mushroom sauce with sake and grass-fed butter. Returning by popular demand, the Saigon Bowl layers jasmine turmeric rice, organic tofu, assorted vegetables, crispy mung beans, shallots, cucumber, and a mix of roasted seeds, with an option to top it all off with a fried organic egg. Core Chau staples like the aforementioned Golden Temple Soup and Taro Chips with Paprika-Spiced Tofu Dip will remain untouched. On the drinks side, expect a Vietnamese Coffee Cortado and a fragrant Pandan Latte to round things out.

Chau Veggie reopens as Chau Cafe in early March. In the time being, Chau’s vegan menu is available for takeout only. When renovations are completed and doors reopen, Chau Cafe’s new branding (with graphics by Renske Werner) and the rolling out of their new menu will also kick off the restaurant’s fresh identity.

Stay tuned for details about opening day!

Chau Cafe

Neighbourhood: East Vancouver

5052 Victoria Dr.

604-568-9508

WEBSITE