The owner of Red Lantern – the world’s most awarded Vietnamese restaurant – was the headline presenter at the second annual Mid North Coast Food Forum on November 9 at Bonville International Golf Resort.
Pauline Nguyen shared the challenges of building a business, working smarter – not harder – and finding ways to balance business and life. Her success can be judged by accolades including Australian Restaurant of the Year in 2012, six-time winner of Best Asian Restaurant and Telstra Small Business of the Year 2012.
Her Red Lantern restaurant, run with her brother and TV personality Luke Nguyen, has always had a strong focus on using local produce to support local growers and has also been listed in the top 10 ‘Most Environmentally Sustainable Restaurants’.
“The Focus for this year’s Forum has been on Business talking to Business – food industry leaders sharing their successes and challenges in a way that we hope will inspire and encourage our local growers, producers and food retailers to achieve their own goals,” said Stephen Saunders, Council’s Section Leader Industry and Destination Development.
The day-long Forum included a strong line-up of Keynote Speakers and Business Development Workshops, followed by a Local Food Showcase.
The Forum concluded with the Mid-North Coast Harvest Dinner, featuring some of the best produce the Mid North Coast has to offer, and brought from the paddock to the plate by the award-winning team from the Resort’s Flooded Gums Restaurant.
The Mid North Coast Food Forum is aimed at businesses in the food industry including agriculture, wholesale, retail and hospitality.