Introduction to Chef Reyna Duong
The ethos of Dallas chef Reyna Duong and her cooking can largely be understood through one dish in her repertoire of Vietnamese comfort food — fried eggs bánh mì.
Chef Reyna Duong owns Chimlanh, a Vietnamese coffee shop in Dallas.
Christine Vo / Staff Photographer
It is the dish she fueled herself with while running her nationally recognized restaurant Sandwich Hag; the dish she put on her permanent menu after customers requested it endlessly; the dish she craved most after she shut down her restaurant; and the dish she recently, and quietly, brought back as her reentry to bánh mì.
Duong, a James Beard-recognized chef, shut Sandwich Hag down last May after nearly seven years in business and opted to run her Vietnamese coffee shop instead in pursuit of a slower, more intentional life.
“I made my business smaller so that I can have a bigger life outside of work,” she said. “Smaller concept, bigger me.”
At Chimlanh, located in the old Sandwich Hag spot in Dallas’ Cedars neighborhood, Duong and her co-owner Lesley Guevara serve cà phê, tea and bagel sandwiches. Despite many requests, Duong did not put her famous bánh mì on her menu — until two months ago.
Without fanfare, she added the Trứng Chiên Fried Eggs Bánh Mì to Chimlanh’s menu in August. She didn’t eat bánh mì after she closed Sandwich Hag since it was no longer part of her daily life, but she often craved the fried eggs version she used to make. So, back on the menu it went.
The sandwich starts with three eggs fried neatly in silicone molds on a flattop grill. Duong cooks them long enough so they have a bit of crisp and color to them but quick enough that their yolks stay silky and slightly runny.
Chef Reyna Duong cracks eggs for a Trứng Chiên Fried Egg Bánh Mì at her walk-up window coffee shop and restaurant Chimlanh. Each bánh mì comes with three eggs.
Christine Vo / Staff Photographer
While the eggs cook, she preps the baguettes, which she sources from Quoc Bao Bakery in Garland as she did for Sandwich Hag. She halves and toasts the bread just enough that it develops a crackly exterior, then generously coats the interior with her roasted garlic aioli.
The way Duong assembles the vegetables for the sandwich says much about her process. She layers them on a cutting board with the particularity of a florist arranging a bouquet to ensure each bite is balanced and consistent. The long slabs of cucumber, rounds of jalapeños, pickled carrots, pickled daikon and cilantro are then carefully transferred to the bread.
“We don’t want anything to be too much of anything. And when I say ‘we,’ I mean me,” Duong said, laughing. “I’m very particular.”
<img loading="lazy" style="aspect-ratio:4096 / 2732" sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 830px, (min-width: 768px) 66.66vw, 60vw" srcset="https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/B7CVCVXVKZCITHJTUQS6RBRQ3I.jpg?auth=1424d42c639ab14cc83413384f0b08ce326874ee820baae37719a30a3d998d9b&quality=80&width=250 250w, https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/B7CVCVXVKZCITHJTUQS6RBRQ3I.jpg?auth=1424d42c639ab14cc83413384f0b08ce326874ee820baae37719a30a3d998d9b&quality=80&width=430 430w, https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/B7CVCVXVKZCITHJTUQS6RBRQ3I.jpg?auth=1424d42c639ab14cc83413384f0b08ce326874ee820baae37719a30a3d998d9b&quality=80&width=830 830w" class="dmnc_images-modern-image-module__QFaG- max-w-full h-auto text-white dmnc_images-modern-image-module__9Zlll bg-gray-light object-contain" width="4096" height="2732" src="https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/B7CVCVXVKZCITHJTUQS6RBRQ3I.jpg?auth=1424d42c639ab14cc83413384f0b08ce326874ee820baae37719a30a3d998d9b&quality=80&width=830" alt="Duong stacks vegetables to go in a fried eggs bánh
