Meet Hao Tran | Culinary Adventurer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hao Tran and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hao, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
When I was younger and much more idealistic, I had life planned out in my head. But nothing really went according to plan. I realized life isn’t always picture perfect and there are circumstances out of your control. Once life experience after another and 30 years had passed and hadn’t done what all I wanted to do in life. So I slowly took more risks, planned less and let things organically play itself out. Stress was actually alleviated. But taking risk takes work, if you are passionate about something you have to work for it and of course there is no guarantee, hence the risk. I took a life risk with my cooking. I put my culturally inspired food out there, put my heart into it and shared it. The support from the community has been the most warming experience. The positive response outweigh the criticism. Now, I co-own a local foods market and culinary studio called The Table and two other food related businesses including Hao & Dixya, known for dumplings and Lost in the Sauce, culturally inspired foods and chef collaborations. Taking risks, with hard work, has it rewards. Sometimes you just have to take a chance and go for it to achieve your dreams.

What should our readers know about your business?
I am the owner of Lost in the Sauce, culturally inspired foods, co-own The Table Market & Culinary Studio and Hao & Dixya, specializing in dumplings. My life really evolves around food, whether it’s a chef driven dinner or creating new products for the market, I want to expose people to new tastes and spices that entice their palette. Nothing worth doing is not without work. It was not an easy process. Several years of maintaining two jobs (day job as a teacher) and putting every penny towards a brick and mortar. I still have both jobs but have become better at balancing the demands between them and learning to delineate personal time and business. Your success is only as good as those who are around you and I’m very lucky to have business partners that are thoughtful and can be responsive to business needs and demands. What I want people to know about my story is that no matter your struggle, you can work hard and achieve your dream. That sounds cliche but it’s true. Maybe there was a little luck in there but the value of hard work allows you to look back and treasure the journey it took to get there.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Fort Worth is a gem of a city. It has the small town feel but yet has all the resources of culture, music, art and a lively food scene. I would start by grabbing croissants at Swiss Pastry Shop and go to Crude for my coffee. Take a morning walk in the Botanical Gardens, head over to Kimbell Art Museum and have afternoon tea. Take another walk downtown and grab drinks on the root top of Reata and enjoy the downtown view. Then onward to Near Southside for happy hour at Fixture, dinner at Wishbone and Flynt. After dinner, check out the music venue Tulips for an evening out and end with late night bites at Paco’s on Magnolia.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Foremost, it would have to be my parents. We immigrated from Vietnam in 1975 and they made such tremendous sacrifice to give my siblings and I the opportunity to live a better life. They instilled the belief that you can achieve whatever you want by working hard. My father also said that you can gain freedom through education. I’m also motivated by daughters. I think when you become a mother, you learn the most unselfish kind of love and you strive to be a better person for them. Throughout life, I’ve been very lucky to have wonderful friends who also taught me about selflessness.

Website: TheTableMarket.com

Instagram: haoislostinthesauce, hao_dixya, thetablefw

Facebook: Lost in the Sauce, Hao and Dixya, The Table FW