Reaping rewards from farm-to-plate philosophy

FARMING family siblings Thy, Toan and Phong Nguyen are currently hitting heights in the Adelaide restaurant scene, but what many might be unaware of is it was humble beginnings in Virginia that inspired their journey.

From their childhood days on the family’s Virginia farm to building a multi-venue hospitality empire, their story is rooted in the land.

First generation Vietnamese immigrants Thich and Tam Nguyen came to Singapore as refugees, and then moved to Australia in 1980, where Thich worked at Holden, and Tam worked at Allens.

Phong Nguyen was born in 1981, and said that five years after he was born, his father decided it was time to relocate the family to South Australia after visiting a friend interstate.

“Dad visited a friend in Virginia, in South Australia, and fell in love with the lifestyle and the laid-back feel of the quiet town… he loved being away from the hustle and bustle,” he said.

“Dad had an agricultural background back in Vietnam, the family decided it would be a great opportunity to move to South Australia, and based themselves in Virginia.

“He wanted to venture into market gardening and started growing tomatoes, cucumbers, other lines of zucchinis, capsicums, and others.

“I didn’t enjoy it and found it very isolating being out in a rural location, and didn’t have that appreciation, but now with kids of my own my views have changed. It is nice the family home is still there, and nice that we still have those memories.

“I helped mum and dad after school but found farming a chore. It was something we had to do, but I wasn’t really a fan of it.

“I had the opportunity to take over the farm in the 2000s, but I ventured into the markets instead, and had a stall at the Pooraka markets, now the South Australian Produce Markets.

“We would grow the produce from our farm in Virginia and then sell our own produce to wholesalers at the market, so it still had that relationship with the Virginia Farm.”

In 2004, Phong started venturing into restaurants and partnered with a close family friend.

Since this time Phong, and his siblings Thy and Toan, have launched the Ong Vietnamese Kitchen, in the Adelaide CBD East End, Lemongrass, on Rundle Street, and Noi Vietnamese Eatery, at Fullarton, and are soon to be part of a new dining project, on Churchill Road.

The site will be home for a new restaurant to be run by the Nguyen family, where their farm-to-plate concept honouring their heritage and celebrating modern Vietnamese dining will come to fruition.

Spearheaded by the three siblings, the project is a one-of-a-kind, family-led development that brings together decades of commitment to utilising fresh produce.

Youngest sibling Thy said the project was a huge accomplishment for the Nguyen family.

"This is more than a restaurant to our family, it is a family project,” she said.
“I could not be prouder of the way our whole family is working together to bring this wonderful vision to life.

“It’s a love letter to our family’s history and our community’s future.”

Phong said the family’s passion was starting to become noticed, with Noi Vietnamese Eatery recently winning at the 2025 Restaurant & Catering Hostplus Awards for Excellence, for Best South Australian Vietnamese Restaurant.

He said produce for their restaurants still came from the farm in Virginia, which remained a special part of their lives.

“Dad still has a connection to Virginia and still has good relationships with farmers out there,” Mr Nguyen said.

“Dad still picks up vegetables that we need for our restaurants, such as cucumbers, eggplants, capsicums, and cabbage.

“We were over the moon to win the award. It is something that we are very proud of and it was a reward for a lot of hard work over the years.”

Phong said he had seen an increasing trend of people seeking to know about where their food had been produced.

“It has definitely changed a lot over the years, more consumers now are wanting to know where their food has come from,” he said.

“Locals support locals, and if food has been grown locally then people tend to want to support the venue more.”

The Churchill Road site was purchased in 2024 and will be a purpose-built, custom-designed space set to redefine expectations.

Construction is now underway for the new restaurant, with more details to be revealed regarding the concept, name and opening timeline.