Founders 

Tracey Lister

With over 20 years experience as a chef in some of Melbourne’s best known and loved eateries, and many visits and two stints of living in Vietnam, first being when she came on sabbatical and fortuitously met Jimmy Pham and became the first chef trainer at KOTO and currently as one of the director’s of the Hanoi Cooking Centre (with business partner Dinh Phung Linh). Tracey knows how to shop, cook and eat in Vietnam, and better still her passion continues to lead her to discoveries from which we all benefit – through her books, classes and cafe

Tracey and her husband and co-author published their first book, KOTO - A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam, in 2008. Their second book, Vietnamese Street Food, will be published in

Australia and the UK in September 2011.   Tracey also contribute to Australian magazines like Delicious about her Vietnamese experience.

Dinh Phung Linh

Linh was born into a traditional Hanoian family and has lived in Hanoi for over 30 years and spent 10 in the local hospitality industry. Linh is very proud of his Vietnamese heritage and especially Vietnamese cuisine. With a British wife and family, Linh has long enjoyed creating treats at home and is always intrigued by other people's opinions of Vietnamese food, particularly, when he cooks for his in-laws in the UK! Whenever he is outside Vietnam, Linh is an ambitious 'taste traveller' and loves investigating new and exciting flavours. He is keen that visitors to HCC experience not just a cooking class, but a total culinary experience, understanding not only the ingredients and cooking methods, but also the culture and the traditions that go into every dish. Linh hopes that each dish taught at HCC will be savoured and recreated for friends and family around the globe for years to come.

HCC Team

Cao Thanh Thuy- Operations Manager

Thuy was born in Nam DinhCity, approximately 90 kilometers south of

Hanoi. To pursue her studies she moved to Hanoi and studied a double major degree in English and Education at the VietnamNationalUniversity.

Upon graduation in 2006 Thuy worked as an English teacher guiding and mentoring young hospitality hopefuls. Thuy is a founding staff member at HCC and takes day to day responsibility for the Front of House of HCC as well as, behind the scenes, with the smooth running of the office, taking bookings and coordinating cooking classes and tours as well as all events and functions.

Nguyen Manh Hung- Head Chef

Hung, or Mr. Hero in English is a born and bred Hanoian, and knows the Hanoi food scene from the curb side street eateries to the luxury high-end dining establishments.

His passion for food began at an early age watching and assisting his mother prepare the family meals and most notably assisting her with the “Banh Chung” cakes each Tet.

This love and passion took him into the world of a professional chef were he has worked in some of Hanoi’s most famous restaurants as well as in other South East Asian countries.

Hung is now the Head Chef at the Hanoi Cooking Centre where he runs Vietnamese, International and Children’s cooking classes. His Street food Tour is not to be missed as he shares with you some of Hanoi’s secret culinary treasures.

Hung appears regularly on Vietnamese television and is also in Gordon Ramsey’s Asian adventures.

Nguyen Huu Y- Chef

Chef Nguyen Huu Y hails from Bac Ninh 30 km north-east of

Hanoi, where his family are rice farmers. Y came to Hanoi to support his family in 2002. In 2005 Y was accepted into the KOTO, vocational training program and his career in hospitality began. After the two year training program Y gained his Certificate 11 in Kitchen Operations from Box Hill TAFE an Australian training institution. Y has worked in some of the best hotels and resorts in Vietnam, including the Sofitel in Hanoi and the award winning 5 star resort Nam Hai in Danang.