Vietnam’s ‘Lunch Lady,’ made famous by Anthony Bourdain, dies in Canada

Thanh went into cardiac arrest shortly after arriving at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Monday to attend the planned June 3 opening of a new Lunch Lady restaurant in the city.

Despite resuscitation efforts, she died with family by her side, the Lunch Lady team said in a statement on Instagram.

“We were ready to welcome her. To honour her. To celebrate this moment together. And now, we are mourning an immeasurable loss,” the Instagram statement read.

Thanh rose to international prominence after Bourdain visited her Ho Chi Minh City food stall in 2008 and featured it on his travel and food show No Reservations the following year.

He praised her rotating daily noodle soups and described each bite as like 'discovering new neighborhoods.'

The exposure brought global attention to her then-unnamed stall, which Bourdain helped name 'The Lunch Lady.'

The Vancouver outpost of the Lunch Lady, which opened in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, has since received multiple Bib Gourmand awards from the Michelin Guide.

The restaurant, co-founded with second-generation Vietnamese-Canadian Michael Tran, serves modernized Vietnamese cuisine.

Thanh had planned to attend the opening of the new Toronto location, her second overseas venture, before her sudden death.

The launch has been postponed, and vigils are expected to be held in both Toronto and Vancouver, with details to be announced.

She will be laid to rest in Vietnam.

“Cô Thanh wasn’t just the heart and soul of The Lunch Lady,” the Instagram statement continued, with 'cô' meaning aunt or a term of respect for an older woman.

“She was a mother figure, a mentor, a quiet master of her craft. Her food told stories.

“Her legacy lives in every bowl, every herb, every careful moment in the kitchen.”