What makes an individual’s story worth telling? To an extent, everyone’s story is worth telling given that no one has, is, or ever will live a life identical to yours. Having said that, it’s not like we can tell everyone’s story. So the question remains: what makes an individual’s story worth telling? Is it that insatiable lust for life that through the years leaves someone battered and bruised but never losing their love of trying to see how far to the edge they can take it? Is it to start from the gutters, look up believing there are no stars only to reach the heavens through sheer will, work, and luck and realise you were the star all along? Or is it about finding one’s place in the world? To become, through love, understanding, and acceptance, a reflection of the universe which is, inherently, embedded within each of us? It’s impossible to say. Regardless, while every person’s story might be worth telling, some people’s stories need to be told. Chef Rang’s is one of those.
Rang was born in Cà Ná, a fishing village in the southern province of Ninh Thuận. Life was hard from the get go. Growing up, Rang only had his mother around. She was a devout Buddhist and he recalls how despite the fact that they never had much to eat themselves, she was always cooking—for monks in Buddhist temples and the homeless on the street. Her generosity made a lasting impact on Rang. It taught him that while kindness can prevail even in the darkest of times, it also revealed just how unfair and difficult life can really be. Tragedy struck when Rang’s mother ended up sick and given that Cà Ná was so small and underdeveloped, he didn’t have any hospital or doctor to take her to. Though Rang stayed with her everyday while she was ill, she ended up passing away when he was around the age of twelve. And so what does a boy do, still not even a teenager and left to fend for himself in a world that up until then has only ever taken from him? Well, he did what anyone would. He did all he could to survive.
After his mother passed, a period in Rang’s life followed where he was out on the streets and stealing food to eat. He described feeling as if the world at the time was a cold, dark place, though he stuck through and thanks to the fact that he knew his way around a boat, was eventually able to find work for fishing families in exchange for shelter and food. It was during this period that he’d first heard about the boat people. After the war, news of people from bigger cities leaving the shores of Vietnam in search of a better future travelled far and wide throughout the country. Upon reaching Rang’s ears, it sparked an idea: why shouldn’t he try to leave as well? After all, he knew his way around a boat and given that he was living in Cà Ná, there were plenty of boats around—maybe he could just take one? Given the grimness of his situation, with every passing day the thought of escape became more desirable. And where would he go? America, of course.
At the time, The US was perceived as heaven on earth by many Vietnamese and the dream and promise of it was no less splendid in Rang’s mind. Even better were the rumours that in order to reach America, all you had to do was sail straight for the sun and voila, you’d reach the promised land in three days. A plan began to hatch. Gathering a group of eager travellers, they started preparing for the trip: diesel fuel, food, and water that would last the supposed seventy-two hour journey. Then all they needed was transportation. Stealing a nine-by-two-metre boat, they set left one morning with their sights set on the sun. Rang described the feeling of leaving Vietnam that day in one word: freedom.
After three days Rang and the crew ran out of diesel. America was nowhere to be found. Surrounding their boat was nothing but a blue emptiness and there weren’t any birds in the sky, which Rang knew meant land was far away. Darkness settled and the emptiness turned from blue to a black that felt both terribly beautiful and unsettling. Quiet. A deathly quiet enveloped Rang and the rest of those onboard in a blanket of uncertainty. They began rationing what was left of their food and water, no longer sure how long they’d be adrift at sea. Just then, the beam of a container ship came into view. Rang and his crewmates shouted and yelled out for attention but the container ship passed until it was nowhere to be seen. This went on for nine days straight.
On the tenth day, they finally spotted land. At first Rang thought he was dreaming, but as the wind pushed them closer to shore he realised the tiny, ant-like figures on the beach were actually people. This was no mirage. Though exhausted beyond belief, in a final, desperate attempt to save themselves, Rang and a few other members of the crew decided to try to swim to shore. He recalls how funny it was that upon getting into the water a strange, all-encompassing power took hold and he swam with an energy he believed he no longer possessed. After all, he didn’t leave Vietnam just to simply end up dead. He still had a whole life to live. He still had to get to America and who knew, perhaps this was God’s final test and the land he was swimming towards was the one that had been exalted by countless Vietnamese as that one true heaven on earth? He made it to shore, face-planted into sand. When he looked back he saw the boat was only the blurred outline of a flag. Turning away from the sea, he was met face to face with a gun.
It turned out that leaving Cà Ná, Rang and the crew had travelled along the southern peninsula of Vietnam to end up in Pulau Bidong, a refugee camp in Malaysia. As fate would have it, the island was a haven for Vietnamese refugees, and so they remained there for a while until awaiting the next move. He hadn’t made it to America but at least he was alive, much luckier than some of his crew members who, unfortunately, had died during the journey. Rang, along with the remaining survivors, were taken to a hospital where they were taken care of and brought back to health. On top of that, they also needed to be documented. There lied an issue. Rang never knew the exact day he was born given his rocky upbringing in Cà Ná. He decided March 2nd—the day he swam to shore—to be his birthday. His day of rebirth. Eventually, Rang, along with six other children from the refugee camp, were sponsored by a Catholic organisation to leave Pulau Bidong. Though they wouldn’t be going to America, they would be heading to a country next door. A country, incidentally, that Rang had never heard of—Canada.
Rang and the six other refugee children arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland on September 8th, 1979. Despite the promise of America as being heaven on earth, St. John’s—at first glance—appeared just as holy and beautiful. The group was housed in a foster home and enjoyed their first real taste of Western hospitality on arrival: a Sunday dinner. There was a quarter of a chicken leg, creamy mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, all doused in a delightfully rich gravy that to the group that had only recently been so close to death, tasted like the elixir to life. Rang felt like he was in a movie, expecting some omniscient, sadistic director to call cut at any moment. Still, when he woke the next day he was still in St. John’s. Looking out the window, snow fell in a display that to the young boy from Cà Ná could only be described as otherworldly. He pinched himself. Was this all real? How had he gone from scavenging on the streets of Vietnam to this? Perhaps he had died and this was, in fact, Heaven.
Safe in Canada, so began another chapter in Rang’s life. He was, to some extent, allowed to just be a kid now. He didn’t have to worry about stealing food, sailing across the blue, empty ocean, or wonder whether he’d still be alive tomorrow. School started. Along with the six other refugees, he was enrolled in Bishop Abraham elementary school in St. John’s. Naturally, they stuck out like sore thumbs. According to Rang, Newfoundland is an area comprised mainly with people of Irish, Scottish, and Portuguese descent. Being Vietnamese was as close to foreign as you could get, which, as you would expect, led to its share of curiosity as it did antagonism. While he recalled the teachers fondly, as well as most of the student body of which a few, such as Mark Scott (who’s dad was a judge) became his friends, there were some that didn’t take to Rang. Of these people, it was the Drogons who he didn’t get along with the most. They were a big Irish group and one of the ring leaders was a boy by the name of Paddy Drogon. Rang had been buddying up with kids like Mark Scott who were routinely bullied by the Drogons and one day, this led to his own altercation with the crew. However, much to the surprise of Paddy Drogon, Rang didn’t back down. He’d been practicing martial arts at the time and given all that he’d been through, a scuffle with some boys his age wasn’t going to strike fear in his heart. After all, he was a man in his own mind, he’d been through much more than they could begin to imagine and so Rang, deciding to put an end to the games, decided to call Paddy Drogon out to a fight. After school. On the soccer field. Leading up to it, Rang knew he couldn’t win on strength given that he was physically smaller. However, what he had instead was speed and a courage that belied his stature. When they fought, Rang was decisive. With one side kick to Paddy Drogon’s knee, he buckled. Rang won. Game over.
After his fight with Paddy, word spread in St. John’s that there was something of a Bruce Lee in town. At the time Rang, in his late-teens, was working as a dishwasher but it wasn’t long before he got a call from a man by the name of Steve Smith, owner of a nightclub on Water Street which was the main area for nightclubs in St. John’s. They offered to double his pay. Seeing dollar signs, Rang decided to take up the offer despite not knowing what the job entailed. One Friday he showed up and met a hulking, behemoth of a man called Harry Evans. It didn’t take long for him to put two and two together: he was going to be a bouncer. At the start, the work was easy enough. People would line up, pay Rang or Harry once they reached the door, and that was that. However, one night, everything changed.
It started off as a regular shift. People lined up and paid for their entrance without any trouble. However, later into the evening a group of guys dressed in leather jackets arrived and cutting the queue, walked straight past Rang into the club. In that moment he realised what he was getting paid for. Heading after them, he tried to get them to pay but they told him to beat it. Once again, rather than backing down, Rang told them they had to pay or else they’d have to leave. This wasn’t what they were used to hearing. Stepping out into a back alley, another fight ensued and Rang, once more using the side kick to one of the guys’ knees, dropped him at which point the leather-jacket clad group (which turned out to be a biker gang), decided they’d own up. He got the money. From then on, work at the club went smoothly. Then one day an Irish guy was drunk and unruly and Rang, fed up, pushed him aside. The guy hit his head on the ground and ended up pressing charges against Rang. Luckily his friendship with Mark Scott—who’s father was a judge—came in handy and Rang was let off, though he had to leave his bouncing job. Back to dishwashing, Rang dove headfirst into the work. As time passed he became a self-proclaimed master of dishwashing, and this dedication and drive didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the kitchen staff who were soon teaching him how to cook. Chef Rang was born.
Chef Rang worked in a seafood restaurant in St. John’s for a while before moving to Halifax where he worked at a Japanese, Benihana style establishment. Once again, his work ethic and skill didn’t go unnoticed and he was later promoted to manager and then operational manager, which meant he was in charge of opening up stores in different locations. Chef Rang, however, wanted more. His friends were telling him if he really wanted to take his cooking to the next level, Toronto was the place to go. And so he went, first finding work at a French restaurant called Le Paradis Brasserie-Bistro where he started as a prep cook before making his way to line cook. Eventually he left that job for an even more well-known French restaurant known as Le Sélect Bistro. The place was legendary, a regular hangout for celebrities and run by a top French chef who taught Rang a lot of what he knows today. It was at Le Sélect Bistro that Chef Rang really elevated his cooking, going from a line cook to eventually helming the kitchen as the executive chef. All was going well until one day, a guy walked through the doors who’d end up altering the course of Chef Rang’s life.
For those who don’t know, Matty Matheson is a Canadian chef, restauranter, and more recently, an actor with roles in tv shows such as HBO’s The Bear. However, before all this he was just a young, inexperienced guy looking for a job in a kitchen. It just so happened that the kitchen he ended up walking into all those years ago happened to be Le Sélect Bistro. Initially, he was turned down. He was overweight, covered in tattoos, and didn’t exactly scream professionalism. However, spotting him getting turned down, Chef Rang went over and brought him back in. When I asked Chef Rang about it he said he felt something of an immediate affinity for Matty, and so he convinced the owner of Le Sélect to give him a job and promised to take him under his wing. That said, things got off to a rocky start. He recalls teaching Matty how to cook a duck confit, a dish that needs to be cooked low and slow for a few hours. Matty, new to the kitchen, wasn’t thinking and popped out for a quick smoke. When he returned, the dish was burnt. Outside of the kitchen, Matty also played in a punk band which meant that he always had a few gigs on the weekends. After several weeks of training Matty called in sick on Monday, the day Chef Rang had set aside to teach him various cooking techniques. Due to scheduling issues at the kitchen, from that day onward Chef Rang told Matty to never call in sick on Mondays, if he really needed to rest he could take Tuesday or Wednesday off instead. To Matty’s credit, he never did.
In Matty, Chef Rang found something of a protege. Through the long hours working together at Le Sélect, the two also became great friends. Matty would go on to become a crucial part of the team at Le Sélect Bistro, so much so that once the place opened up a second location, Matty ended up working in the executive chef role that Chef Rang once had. Years later, once Matty started to become an internet personality through YouTube channels like Munchies and Vice, he never forgot who had been with him the whole way through. For the pilot episode of Dead Set on Life, Matty’s tv show with Munchies, he chose to shoot it with Chef Rang in Cà Ná. It was a full circle moment, one that put on display the deep bond the two brash, boisterous individuals have for one another. If that wasn’t enough, the two also opened Cà Phê Rang in Toronto together. A restaurant specialising in Vietnamese flavours with a Canadian twist, it’s been a Michelin Select restaurant for the past three years.
Eventually, Chef Rang’s time at Le Sélect Bistro came to an end. He needed something new and given all the connections he’d made with the various celebrities, politicians, and businesspeople that came through Le Sélect’s doors, he was in the perfect position to start leveraging those relationships. Private parties became Chef Rang’s forte. Word quickly spread and it wasn't long before he was in high-demand by many of Canada’s elite. His popularity was a result of a few different reasons. For one, his cooking. Given his decades experience working in kitchens by then, it should come as no surprise that Chef Rang cooked well. However, what caught even the most gourmand of his guests off guard was the breadth and scope of his knowledge. Being a Red Seal Chef meant he’s a certified professional cook and as such, no cuisine is off limits. This results in a specially designed menu that pushes the boundaries of extravagance and flavour. Once a menu is accepted, Chef Rang tells his clients how much it’ll cost. He told me—with a cheeky grin—how some have balked at the number and whenever that happens, he tells them if they don’t end up liking the meal, he’ll give it to them for free. Needless to say, everyone always pays.
The popularity of Chef Rang’s private dinners also have a lot to do with Rang himself. Like most people who excel in hospitality, he's an entertainer at heart. He likes to joke around, share tons of stories, but perhaps most importantly, he isn’t afraid to give it to you straight. Given that Chef Rang’s clientele have been some of Canada’s wealthiest and most influential individuals, there’s a tendency for most people to belittle themselves when dealing with them. Chef Rang never does this. He was honest about the fact that he’s turned down numerous opportunities from clients who acted as if Rang was there to be something of a servant. That’s not his job. He’s never forgotten where he’s come from and the things he’s had to endure to make it to where he is so if he has something on his mind, he’s going to say it. Incidentally, this is just what people in positions of power respect. That type of fearless honesty no matter who is in the room is impossible to put a price tag on. Chef Rang’s personality is a large part of why his name has travelled far and wide through Canada. From countless private dinners in mansions on Bridle Path, Toronto’s very own “Millionaires’ Row”, to parties on the lakeside cottages of Muskoka, the Chef Rang experience took Canada by storm. You would think, at that point, he’d sail off into the sunset like he’d tried to so many years ago when he left Vietnam. But for Chef Rang, that was never going to be enough. Some people understand you don’t come all of this way just to come all this way. There’s always more ocean to explore.
It’s the fate of the prodigal son to return to from where he once came. Chef Rang, despite everything he’d accomplished, still had one more dream: to return to Vietnam and introduce the country to poutine, Canada’s national dish. This is why at the start of this year, he returned to the country he long ago sailed away from to open up King Poutine with his wife. The idea, though lofty, was simple: to make the best poutine in the world and introduce Canadian cuisine to the people of Vietnam. He admits it’s been a slow start since they opened, but he figured this would be the case and he isn’t in any rush. After all, he believes if you love what you do and do what you love, the money will eventually come. Having said that, he is getting older. What he hopes for is to inspire the younger generation and perhaps find someone who can handle the reins. However, until that happens, you can rest assured that Chef Rang will be at King Poutine every day with his wife, meeting and greeting people with the same warm, blunt, and brash energy that he greeted Aidan, Garrett, and I with when we stopped by for a meal. And at that point, I suppose there’s nothing left to say. So remains that question: what makes an individual’s story worth telling? Again, while every person’s story might be worth sharing, Chef Rang’s is one that needed to be told. Through struggle, strife, all the way to the most glorious successes, he’s lived more lives in one and he still doesn’t seem likely to stop.
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