Law student Mallory Garcia has been following chef Nini Nguyen since 2020 when she was competing on season 16 of Top Chef.
When Loyola Dining announced that Nguyen would be leading a dumpling demonstration on campus, Garcia made sure she was in attendance, even making her way to the stage to assist the chef.
“It’s a little surreal,” she said. “To me, she’s a local celebrity.”
Loyola-Sodexo chef Chris Hustad recalls his time working in French Quarter kitchens with Nguyen in the early 2000s.
“Being a New Orleans-native herself… I was hoping she’d come and give back to the community and show some of the students things they hadn’t seen before… maybe get [them] into Asian cuisine if they hadn’t before,” he said.
Nguyen said she loves teaching others and hopes her demonstration inspired everyone to make their own dumplings.
“I love teaching people and making things a little bit more approachable,” she said. “And I love dumplings — who doesn’t love dumplings?”
