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At ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐–๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ฏ๐ž, weโ€™re all about handcrafted, plant-based comfort food that feels like home.

Meet Soozee Nguyen of The Wild Chive

Meet Soozee Nguyen of The Wild  Chive
" I think I was born an entrepreneur. My first business was at five years old where I hustled custom friendship bracelets to classmates. My side gig was slinging lollipops door-to-door until my parents found out and shut it down. Growing up, my parents showed their affection for me through food. My mother was a traditional Vietnamese cook and my father was notorious for coloring outside the lines. And, me? Well, I loved eating "

Fast forward to 19 years old, on a quest for self-discovery and craving new surroundings, I moved from Texas to California. My love for music led me to becoming a DJ for over 15 years. Then, my love for art and working with my hands led me to pursue a career in hair artistry. Throughout this time, I found myself missing my parentโ€™s food, which inspired me to learn how to cook.

" I remember calling my mom all the time for her recipes. โ€œA pinch of this, a pinch of that,โ€ she would say. Her traditional foundation gave me the platform to experiment, much like how my dad would when they cooked together. Then one day it all clicked. I really loved cooking! This realization reignited the entrepreneur in me and got the turntables in my head spinning. "

As luck would have it, the opportunity to work for a newly opened cafe in New York presented itself when I got a call from a friend. Going to culinary school was not an option for me financially, so I ended up working my way through the kitchens of New York City instead. Looking back, it was the best education I could have asked for. "

" I got to experience every restaurant position with my humble beginnings as a busser, host, and server to working my way up to kitchen manager and executive chef at Champโ€™s Diner, followed by The Black Flamingo "

Equipped with my new experience, and an ambition to launch something of my own, I decided to move back home to Long Beach, California where The Wild Chive would soon be born. What began as a tiny vegan pop-up offering handcrafted brunches at Portfolio Coffeehouse, vegan festivals, MADE By Millworks, and Marina Farmerโ€™s Market is now on its way to opening a brick- and-mortar to accommodate our tremendous growth.

" I guess you could say The Wild Chive has been three years running, but nine years in the making. "

๐™ƒ๐™–๐™จ ๐™ž๐™ฉ ๐™—๐™š๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™– ๐™จ๐™ข๐™ค๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™ง๐™ค๐™–๐™™?

๐™ƒ๐™–๐™จ ๐™ž๐™ฉ ๐™—๐™š๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™– ๐™จ๐™ข๐™ค๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™ง๐™ค๐™–๐™™?
" Smooth, bumpy, under construction, watch for falling rocks, you name it. Itโ€™s been (and still is) quite the adventure. Being a pop-up restaurant is our biggest challenge. We donโ€™t have the luxury of being able to set operational efficiencies like we would in a more permanent space. Everything is touch and go. Luckily, our community has been there to back us up. Weโ€™ve met some amazing people along the way and our family keeps growing. So, it can be tough but itโ€™s worth it. "

" The spirit of The Wild Chive is a story of personal identity that celebrates roots and evolutionary heritage and takes shape with the community. In short, we are family time around the dinner table "

๐˜ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ด. ๐˜๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜Ž๐˜‰๐˜›๐˜˜ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บโ€”๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต, ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜โ€™๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜”๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ? ๐˜—๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ.

Thank You, Long Beach!๐ŸŒˆ

Thank You, Long Beach!๐ŸŒˆ
Weโ€™re so thankful for the amazing support from our Long Beach community. Your love drives us to keep creating delicious dishes that reflect our passion for good food. Come join us at ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐–๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ฏ๐žโ€”where every meal is ๐“ถ๐“ช๐“ญ๐“ฎ ๐”€๐“ฒ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ ๐“ต๐“ธ๐“ฟ๐“ฎ!