Secrets of Success
Angus An reflects on a career spent in the kitchen By Sheri radford
“ I know I won ’ t be rich from running a restaurant , but I think it ’ ll be a pretty fulfilling life .”
It ’ s a perfect spring day in Vancouver , and Angus An is reflecting on his career path . Between running five restaurants ( and preparing to open another ), writing a cookbook , and being a husband and father , the busy chef rarely has time to pause . But on this day , he sits at a sunny table in his flagship Maenam ( page 100 ), overlooking bustling 4th Avenue , and reminisces . “ I ’ ve always loved food ,” he says . “ I ’ ve always cooked in restaurants . I ’ ve never actually had a job that ’ s not restaurant-related .”
After a brief detour to study architecture , and stints cooking and learning in New York , Montreal and England ( where An met the woman who is now his wife ), An felt it was time to return to Vancouver : “ I always wanted to come back , because this is home .” Most audaciously , he decided to open his own restaurant . An now calls his 27-year-old self “ very very young .”
Gastropod opened in 2006 and quickly garnered awards and rave reviews . For a couple of years , everything ran smoothly , though An admits now he was burning the candle at both ends : “ It was work work work . Before I ’ d go to bed , I ’ d read cookbooks . It was everything for food and work .”
Things changed when the recession hit , and diners could no longer afford Gastropod ’ s fine-dining experience . Five months in a row , the restaurant lost huge sums of money . An made a tough decision : he shuttered Gastropod in 2009 and in its place opened Maenam , a casual Thai restaurant . Fortunately , it wasn ’ t long before the diners came back and the accolades rolled in once again . Vancouver Magazine named Maenam Restaurant of the Year 2016 .
If An could go back in time , he knows his younger self would ignore any advice offered . “ As a proud chef , a young chef , you have to have a certain amount of confidence to open a restaurant in an established city like Vancouver ,” he says , adding , “ Gastropod was the right restaurant to open first . I needed to learn through those failures .”
Now that An is a bit older , he ’ s trying to work fewer hours so he can spend more time with his wife and 10-year-old son and pursue hobbies such as photography . The family eats at his restaurants a lot — partly for quality control but mainly for enjoyment — and makes time to dine at favourites around the city , including Cinara , Cioppino ’ s , Masayoshi , Au Petit Café , Linh Café , Marutama , Fayuca , Monarch Burger , Kissa Tanto and Campagnolo . “ I also enjoy cooking at home for the family ,” he says .
Next up for An is a new venture on Granville Island : Popina Canteen . He ’ s partnered with three other celebrated local chefs — Robert Belcham , Hamid Salimian and Joël Watanabe — to launch this gourmet counter-service restaurant housed in repurposed shipping containers .
Because even when Angus An slows down , he still can ’ t stop opening up innovative new restaurants .
Angus An ’ s endeavours include Thai restaurants Maenam , Longtail Kitchen and Sen Pad Thai , as well as Fat Mao Noodles , specializing in comfort food from Thailand , Malaysia and China , and Freebird Chicken Shack , which serves all things chicken . Popina Canteen is scheduled to open this summer .
June 2018 where . ca 23