Our Story
At ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฏ๐, weโre all about handcrafted, plant-based comfort food that feels like home.
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 parentโs food, which inspired me to learn how to cook.
" I remember calling my mom all the time for her recipes. โA 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 Champโs 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 Farmerโs 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. "
๐๐๐จ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฉ๐ ๐ง๐ค๐๐?
" Smooth, bumpy, under construction, watch for falling rocks, you name it. Itโs been (and still is) quite the adventure. Being a pop-up restaurant is our biggest challenge. We donโt 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. Weโve met some amazing people along the way and our family keeps growing. So, it can be tough but itโs 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 ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ท๐ช๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ช๐ด. ๐๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐บโ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต, ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐โ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ? ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
Thank You, Long Beach!๐
Weโre 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 ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฏ๐โwhere every meal is ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ!