"I realized Francis Tuttle was one of the most valuable experiences in my life. It allowed me to go into the career I sought through a safe and encouraging environment."
Even with a 13-hour time difference, Logan Thomas Hester could put himself in the same shoes as the culinary students to whom he was speaking.
That’s because, a good 15 years earlier, he was in their shoes. As a graduate of the Francis Tuttle Technology Center Culinary Arts program and later Johnson & Wales, Hester has had a unique journey even by hospitality industry standards. And he shared that journey with Francis Tuttle Culinary students during a video call from his home in Hong Kong.
“[Attending Francis Tuttle] was the first time that I found something I had a real passion about,” Hester said. “When anyone offered me the chance to do something where I was going to learn, the answer was always yes.”
Hester talked about his journey before taking questions from Culinary students in an hour-long session. Among his earliest jobs in hospitality, Hester cooked hot dogs at the Bricktown Ballpark.
After completing the Francis Tuttle program and graduating from high school, Hester went to study at the prestigious Johnson & Wales. He then went to live in New York and work at the renowned Eleven Madison Park.
He returned to Oklahoma City and worked at several well-known establishments, such as Vast and Mary Eddy’s. But when Hester’s career didn’t quite take the direction he expected, he began to think about what he really wanted to accomplish.
Working at OKC gave him the chance to work alongside Vietnamese-American chefs. It was a cuisine he always had an interest in, and so on a whim he purchased a one-way ticket to Vietnam.
Hester said he first found work at a hostel, and that helped him gain enough contacts to get into a restaurant. He found a chef willing to not only give him a job, but also to act as a mentor and help him grow.
“Get as many callouses as possible. Find work and go do something,” Hester told the students. “Try to find a place where you’re going to learn something new every day. It’s going to be hard, because the person teaching you is going to push you.”
Though he had been exposed to some aspects of Vietnamese cuisine in OKC, Hester said he went into the country with very little knowledge of the food he was about to serve. In some ways, though, it was a blessing.
“Every single time, I’m looking at it through this analytical lens,” he said. “I want to know what it is about this dish and these ingredients that make it so good.”
Hester eventually opened AnAn Saigon. It eventually became the first restaurant in the city to receive a Michelin star.
They then set the goal of becoming one of the Top 50 best restaurants in Asia. On the night of the results, AnAn debuted on the list at 39th and remained on the list for 2020 and 2021.
After five years in Vietnam, Hester joined Black Sheep Restaurants and moved to Hong Kong. There, he worked with a culinary team to accomplish a difficult task: re-imagine an established restaurant, Chom Chom, while maintaining a regular clientele.
They visited Vietnam, and that provided Hester and his team with the inspiration to change Chom Chom’s menu.
“This restaurant had been around for 10 years, but we ended up creating an experience that we felt would last another 10,” he said.
Hester decided to step away from Chom Chom and is now looking for his next culinary adventure. While he is proud of his journey so far, he advised the students to seek a safer way to go abroad by seeking internships through Francis Tuttle.
Culinary student Isabel Granata said she plans on traveling to the Philippines to gather inspiration for her Filipino restaurant concept.
“My goal is eventually to open a Filipino restaurant in Oklahoma City,” Granata said.
She was able to ask Hester about how to make Filipino cuisine in a way that also appeals to an Oklahoma customer base. His advice was to become immersed in Filipino culture and understand what makes their food so good and how it brings people together.
“Hospitality is something that everyone can understand,” he said.
Hester also told students to always remember that the goal of having a restaurant isn’t just to open it. You also have to run it.
“The best way to start a restaurant is to know the people; know who you’re serving,” he said. “Our calling is about more than opening bars and restaurants. It’s about building a community.”