This is how we source at Gụ

There is a simpler way to run a restaurant.

You fix the menu months in advance. You order from a catalogue. You rely on stable supply and predictable deliveries.

Everything runs smoothly. We chose a different path.

Last week, our chefs travelled to Quế Sơn to meet the farmers working with Lac Son. The road ended quickly. After that, it was hours on foot through the countryside of Central Vietnam. Hills, narrow paths, shallow streams where even a motorbike could not pass.

This is where the herbal pigs are raised.

The farms are small. The animals grow at their natural pace. Their feed is blended with local herbs. Conditions are controlled and clean. Farmers are paid at agreed prices that allow them to work without pressure to industrialize.

The difference is not loud. It is precise.

The fat holds firm.

The meat has structure.

It reacts differently to heat.

And because growth is slower, supply is limited. Some weeks there is less. Some weeks there is none.

We accept that.

The next morning, we were in Quảng Ngãi before sunrise.

A small port. Boats returning quietly with the catch of the night. No showroom, no intermediary. Just fishermen unloading what the sea has given them.

Some days the selection is exceptional. Some days it is modest.

We choose directly at the dock.

If the quality is not there, we do not take it. If the weather has been rough, the menu changes.

We accept that too.

Gụ is not built around guaranteed availability. It is built around real conditions.

The hills influence what we cook.

The sea shapes the menu.

We adapt accordingly.

This means dishes appear and disappear. It means the menu evolves. It means we sometimes say “not today.”

But it also means that when something arrives at your table, we know exactly where it comes from, how it was raised, and who stands behind it.

And that changes the way we cook.

When you have walked the farm, you handle the pork with more attention.

When you have stood at the port at sunrise, you keep the fish simple.

From Quế Sơn.

From Quảng Ngãi.

Back to our kitchen in Đà Nẵng.

*Credits to Muoi for the great pictures and portraits of people we met along the way.

See you at Gu Wine Bistro, Si Dining or Luca Cucina!