Our Family

A Family Feature
Saigon Sisters Restaurant, the latest addition to the Fulton River District’s lively restaurant scene, is run by Vietnamese sisters, Mary Nguyen Aregoni and Theresa Nguyen, along with their mother, Mama Suu. The main inspiration for beginning their business came from influential family members. Mama Suu and the sisters’ grandmother began as successful entrepreneurs in Vietnam, growing an open-market grocery into a large food market operation that served as the main supplier to nearby embassies. After the Nguyen family moved to the United States, Mama Suu encouraged her daughters to achieve their goals and do what they love, which eventually happened to be following in her footsteps. The original Saigon Sisters opened as a booth at nearby Chicago French Market in December 2009, and now proudly expands to a second location and full-service restaurant.

In the Kitchen

SAIGON SISTERS WELCOMES NEW EXECUTIVE CHEF - MATT RIORDAN

Chicago (August 2011)—Saigon Sisters is pleased to welcome Matt Riordan as its new Executive Chef. In this role he will oversee the culinary operations of both the French Market stand and the Zagat-rated Vietnamese restaurant.

Chef Riordan brings extensive executive experience to his role, most recently, as the Executive Chef of Pops for Champagne

A Chicago native, Chef Riordan already has big plans for the menu. “I want Saigon Sisters to become the go-to restaurant for unique Vietnamese flavors with a decidedly Chicago and Midwestern focus.”

Opened in November 2010 as an extension of their successful Chicago French Market stand, Saigon Sisters has received numerous industry awards, including being named one
of Chicago Magazine’s Best New Restaurants, under the management of sisters Theresa Nguyen and Mary Nguyen Aregoni.

“Matt stood out because of his love of Asian flavors and interesting ideas on how we can continue to elevate traditional Vietnamese street food favorites” said Mary. “We want to keep surprising our diners and winning new fans with fresh, delicious, and high-quality Vietnamese food in an elegant casual space.”

John Boisse
Saigon Sisters, Sous Chef

As a Mexican American growing up in a close family in Dallas, John Boisse was constantly around the dinner table sharing traditional Mexican dishes and southern comfort food with
relatives. His inspiration to dive into a career in culinary arts came from his uncle, who worked his way up in the restaurant industry from bartender to owner of Young Augustine’s in Atlanta. With this encouragement, Boisse attended Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago.

Following culinary school, Boisse went on to spend more than two years working closely with Alexander Cheswick at May Street Market. There he began as an extern, was promoted within a week to working on the hotline, and soon became Cheswick’s “go-to guy”. Currently Boisse holds the position of sous chef at Saigon Sisters, he has brought his experience at May Street Market to Saigon Sisters and created the Che that is currently on the dessert menu.

Boisse is thrilled to be able to work with different ingredients and flavors, combining his learning from Le Cordon Bleu with memories of home-cooked meals. “I find that a lot of my
best ideas come from the food I grew up with,” says Boisse. “So many of the home-cooked meals I loved can be applied to other cuisines or twisted and refined into better dishes.”

Learning from a diverse group of people and continually meeting new individuals who come in and out of the kitchen, is something that Boisse never tires of. “It’s nice working in a
collaborative atmosphere with a motivated and tight-knit team that continues to grow and adapt,” he says.