amelie thuy nguyen, restaurateur, anh and chi, vancouver, bc, helen siwak, portfolioyvr

Amélie Thuy Nguyen (Anh and Chi) Is Taking Her Family’s Heirloom Sauces to Retailers Across Canada

Amélie Thuy Nguyen is a Vancouver-based restaurateur, entrepreneur, and creative whose work sits at the intersection of food, community, and culture. Holding a Bachelor of Human Biological Sciences and a Master of Public Health, she has worked across multiple countries in population health, equity, and diversity and inclusion.

Amélie is the co-founder of Anh and Chi, one of Vancouver’s most beloved restaurants and a four-time Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient. Passionate about amplifying IBPOC stories and brands through community collaboration, film, and food, she draws on her family’s heirloom recipes as the foundation for that work.

In 2022, she founded Me’s Marketplace by Anh and Chi, crafting locally made, artisanal sauces and provisions now available in over fifty boutique shops and grocers across British Columbia — and expanding eastward across Canada.

Outside of her ventures, Amélie writes, directs, and hosts culinary and neighbourhood tours, and spends her remaining time outdoors with her two daughters — skiing, biking, and eating their way around the world.

amelie thuy nguyen, restaurateur, anh and chi, vancouver, bc, helen siwak, portfolioyvr

COMPANY BIO

Launched in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant district in 2016, Anh and Chi is an award-winning, family-run, community-minded restaurant reimagining and redefining the Vietnamese dining experience. Bringing people together for one of the city’s most celebrated casual fine-dining experiences, Anh and Chi offers an ever-changing menu of authentic food and inspired cocktails, prepared with fresh, local, and seasonally inspired ingredients — served with care in a refined yet relaxed enclave on Main Street.

A leader in team culture and community impact, Anh and Chi extends its values of family beyond the restaurant through its Reservation by Donation program, which has raised and donated over half a million dollars alongside staff and patrons to support at-risk populations across British Columbia.

A Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant four years running, Anh and Chi’s vision is to reimagine Vietnamese cuisine in restaurants, homes, and retailers around the world — now alongside Good Thief, the rebellious cocktail bar next door, and Me’s Marketplace by Anh and Chi, a line of locally made artisanal sauces and provisions.

amelie thuy nguyen, restaurateur, anh and chi, vancouver, bc, helen siwak, portfolioyvr

IN HER WORDS

The call came the moment the BC government announced restaurants had to close. My brother was on the line, and he asked me to be creative — to find a way to keep our team of fifty people together. In that moment, everything became clear. We had our family, we had our people, and we had our sauces. We started bottling by hand. Every single staff member was retained. And when Anh and Chi reopened, something unexpected had taken root alongside the restaurant — a product line with a life entirely its own.

Me’s Marketplace by Anh and Chi officially entered the consumer packaged goods market in 2022, one hundred percent women-led, and has been expanding ever since. Our sauces are now carried in over fifty retailers across British Columbia, and this year, we are heading east. What began as a pandemic pivot has become one of the most meaningful chapters of this entire journey.

WATCHING AND LEARNING

I grew up watching my parents work in the restaurant — long hours, always good food, always genuine hospitality. What I absorbed was not a business strategy. It was a way of being. Food brings people together, and I saw that truth lived out every single day before I ever had words for it.

When Anh and Chi opened in 2016, I was still working full time in Population and Public Health, advocating for marginalized communities through health equity policy and regional initiatives. The family business came back into my life quietly at first, to support my mom and brother in their new venture. Slowly, my role evolved into branding, marketing, and communications — I became the bridge between my family’s story and the story of a new generation of Canadians doing remarkable things. That dual existence taught me more than any single path could have. Understanding people, understanding community, understanding what moves them — that foundation sits underneath everything I build.

amelie thuy nguyen, restaurateur, anh and chi, vancouver, bc, helen siwak, portfolioyvr

THE MOMENT THAT CONFIRMED EVERYTHING

The first time I truly saw the potential of our sauces was through a collaboration with Fresh Prep. Their distribution channel of ready-to-cook recipe boxes was the perfect vehicle — and the results were immediate. Within eight weeks, our sauces reached twenty thousand homes. That collaboration became Fresh Prep’s highest grossing and best reviewed meal kit. It confirmed two things I have never stopped believing: our sauces are genuinely loved, and great things happen when great people work together. I am forever grateful for that partnership and for what it showed us about what was possible.

BUILDING WITHOUT EXITS

I do not believe in leaving behind what I love. Every venture I pour my heart into, I intend to keep. Anh and Chi is the core — a family business built on team culture, consistent food, and a story that runs deep. Two Michelin Bib Gourmand designations, four consecutive years for Anh and Chi and now one for Good Thief next door, confirm what our community already knew. Global recognition is meaningful, but the real measure is the people who come back, and they keep coming back.

Good Thief is my brother’s passion project, a rebellious cocktail bar with a crew of chefs, bartenders, and front of house staff whose work deserves to be seen and celebrated. Me’s Marketplace is my newest and most consuming focus — a growth-stage CPG business that demands everything production, logistics, and marketing have to offer, and then some. We are hiring, and if you want to be part of a founding team building something genuinely special, the door is open.

There is also The Colour Yellow, a creative company built to amplify feel-good stories through film and content — currently paused while I give Me’s Marketplace the attention it deserves. I have learned that you can build many things, but it is better to make one truly great before pouring yourself into the next. The creative work will always be there. For now, the sauces come first.

amelie thuy nguyen, restaurateur, anh and chi, vancouver, bc, helen siwak, portfolioyvr

THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE IT POSSIBLE

My mother is my most important teacher. I watch her work ethic, the way she leads her team, the selflessness she brings to her family, and the quiet humility with which she does all of it. She has taught me that the measure of a successful person is not what they achieve in the spotlight — it is how they conduct themselves in the ordinary moments when no one is watching. Commitment, discipline, and hard work, practiced daily and without performance. That is the standard she set, and I try to honor it every day.

Sacrifice is real in this industry. Personal relationships take the weight of long hours and full attention. My approach has been deliberate — I build my business around the experiences that matter most, and I schedule trips with my family because those moments are not optional. Somehow, the average holds. The kids are doing well. The businesses are doing well. Balance may be a moving target, but the overall score is good.

THE LEGACY BEING BUILT

My father’s passing crystallized something I had always felt but never fully articulated. Legacy became non-negotiable. I dream of building something bigger than our family — something that stays on this earth well past me and my children, something that continues to bring people to the table long after we are gone.

The largest contribution our family has made to Canada is translating our heirloom recipes so that others can eat, enjoy, and connect over extraordinary food. Bottling our sauces is half of that legacy. The other half is documenting how delicious and diverse Canadian food truly is — earning shelf space in retailers across Canada and, one day, across the world. Made in Canada. Built on love, time, and flavour packed into every bottle.

Me’s Marketplace is that legacy in motion. To continue building it with the focus it deserves, I am seeking a Fractional CFO, Production Manager, Marketing Manager, a distributor and third-party logistics partner, an e-commerce platform, and $500,000 in investment. I am prepared to put everything on the line for this next phase of growth — because I know what we are building, and I know it is worth it.

Author Profile

Helen Siwak, Collaborator: This story is created in collaboration between Helen Siwak and the featured subject. As the founder and publisher of Portfolio.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine, Helen works closely with entrepreneurs to share their paths of innovation, resilience, and growth. Each story in this series is co-developed through interviews and first-person insights, blending authentic voices with Helen’s editorial expertise to highlight the remarkable individuals shaping British Columbia’s business landscape.