About Haley Nguyen

Trained at the apron strings of her grandmother, Haley learned to cook at the tender age of 10.  After immigrating to the United States with six brothers and sisters, she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University in 1984.  While pursuing other endeavors, her passion for food and cooking never subsided.  Haley owned and operated a Vietnamese restaurant named Annam Café in Boulder; Colorado from 1993-1996.

Haley started her culinary teaching at the Cooking School of the Rockies in 1994.  Shortly after moving to Southern California, she instigated and implemented the Asian curriculum for the Art Institute of California in Santa Monica in 1999.  To complement her classroom instruction, Haley leads culinary tours to Southeast Asia, one of which was aired on a Food Network segment titled “Cooking School Stories” in March 2002.

In addition, Haley conducts local market tours to Little Saigon California, the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam.  Haley also presents cooking seminars with topics including “Healthy Asian Cuisine”, and “Asian Ingredients 101” to groups such as: Los Angeles Museum of Art, Institute of Food and Wine, Women Chefs and Restaurateur, and Les Dames d’Escoffier.

Haley has contributed to the Orange County Register’s food section as well as cooking web videos, she also appeared in a Vietnamese language cooking show on Saigon TV in Orange county.

Haley is currently teaching classes on ethnic cooking at Saddleback Community College and recently opened a Vietnamese restaurant “Xanh” in Fountain Valley, serving Vietnamese soul food.  Haley plans to conduct monthly cooking classes at Xanh in the near future.  She is also a Chef contributor for a cookbook “Yum, recipes from culinary greats”.