Published: August 23, 2008 02:01 am            

Q&A: Tran to show off one of his specialties at library event

By CHRIS MORRIS

Chris.Morris@newsandtribune.com

Ever considered becoming a chef of Asian cuisine, or are you looking for the perfect appetizer to impress friends.

The New Albany-Floyd County Public Library may have exactly what you are looking for.

Thursday night, the library will offer a workshop on Asian cooking featuring Danny Tran, co-owner of Orchid Asian Café, 400 W. Main St., in New Albany.

Tran will show participants how to prepare crab rangoon and talk about Asian cuisine ... something he knows plenty about.

“I wanted to do something simple because we don’t have much time. But it will be something they will remember,” Tran said.

Tran’s father owned a restaurant and many of the same recipes he uses at the Orchid Asian Cafe, like crab rangoon, come from his dad’s inventory of specialties.

As part of its weekly Q&A series, Tran recently sat down with The Evening News and Tribune to discuss his passion for cooking.

QUESTION: How long have you been in the restaurant business?

TRAN: “My parents owned four restaurants in Lorain, Ohio, so I grew up in the restaurant business. For the last nine years I was working for the Ford Motor Company and I decided to go into business for myself. I look at it as I would rather take a shot in life at 35 than 55. If I’m 55 there is less recovery time if I fail. It’s risk and reward.

Q: Why Orchid Asian Cafe and why did you locate the business in New Albany?

TRAN: “I like the location, we’re on Main Street. It’s a high traffic area. We have a great landlord and that also is important when you are looking to lease a building.”

Q: Have you always had an interest in cooking?

TRAN: “I train all my employees to cook. I took everything good off my father’s menu and put on mine. I wanted to keep it simple and lean. I didn’t want to carry a bunch of inventory. I picked out the things that I think people will really enjoy.”

Q: What are some of your favorite dishes to cook?

TRAN: “We have orange chicken and sweet and sour chicken. We also serve items like stuffed chicken wings ... that was not on my dad’s menu.”

Q: Are you pleased with business?

TRAN: “You are never pleased with yourself. There is always room to grow. I am pleased with the way the neighborhood has accepted us. We get a good lunch time crowd but the dinner crowd could be better.”

Q: Do you enjoy teaching people how to cook?

TRAN: “I enjoy educating people overall. You always need people who are educated about things. I like teaching people about real Asian food. So many people think of Asian cuisine as cats and dogs. And that is so stupid. I like teaching people what Chinese cooking is all about.”

Q: Do you find that people are curious about Asian cooking?

TRAN: “I think as we progress as a society, people are more willing to try new things. Asian cooking uses a lot of vegetables and lean meat so it’s healthy. And we are more health conscious now. I think people are more open minded.”

Q: How is your restaurant different?

TRAN: “We are not just a Chinese restaurant. We are an Asian restaurant — we serve Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese dishes.”

        

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