The story of Ănăn is inextricably linked to chef Peter Cường Franklin's remarkable personal journey. Born near Đà Lạt, where his mother ran a noodle stall, Franklin was airlifted from Saigon at age 12 in 1975 and adopted by an American naval family. He graduated from Yale and built a successful finance career in New York, but in 1995, when a childhood friend located his birth mother, Franklin returned to Vietnam for an emotional reunion.
Abandoning finance to pursue his culinary calling, he worked in prestigious kitchens including Alinea in Chicago and Nahm in Bangkok before returning to Vietnam in 2017 to open Ănăn, winning a Michelin star in the inaugural guide for Ho Chi Minh City.
The vibe: Ănăn’s ambitions keep shooting skyward, with new concepts built onto the flagship restaurant, and the atmosphere shapeshifts as you ascend. The ground floor maintains an intimate fine dining ambience, while the second floor Nhậu Nhậu’s speakeasy vibe and drinking food captures Saigon's after-dark spirit. The third floor specialises in noodle artistry, and the rooftop offers stunning city views for outdoor dining and drinking.
This vertical progression creates distinct moods within a single address, and it's easy to imagine yourself losing a weekend in here, bouncing between venues like a pinball.
The food: Franklin calls his approach 'Cuisine Mới' (New Cuisine), applying French techniques to Vietnamese street food. At Ănăn, Chef Peter's Tasting Menu is the main event, detailing a culinary tour of the country from North to South.
You might start with a Hanoian foie gras spring roll with truffle, moving south to grilled pigeon lá lốt style (wrapped in wild ‘betel’ leaf) before culminating on Vietnam's most southern island, with coconut ice cream, fish sauce caramel and Phú Quốc pepper.
The third-floor Pot Au Phở is even more intriguing. The Phở 2.0 Tasting Menu begins with a one-bite phở (the beef phở sphere utilises molecular gastronomy to encapsulate 12-hour broth). It concludes with a banana soufflé featuring a hint of phở spices. There is plenty of refined noodle action in between.
There’s also an à la carte menu, but in a restaurant that's so much about the journey, it's better to submit to the full experience.
The drinks: Rather than a dedicated wine pairing, there are three sommelier-selected reds and three whites designed to complement the tasting menu.
The cocktail menu features the signature phojito (phở spices like cinnamon and star anise with gin and mint), but the red snapper, with gin, tomato, chilli and Vietnamese mint - a kind of Bloody Mary that's grown a pair - is even better. The craft beer selection focuses on local breweries.
Time Out tip: Both tasting menus require pre-ordering with a choice of 5.30pm or 8.30pm times.