As an O’Connor High School student, Jerald Head began working in San Antonio restaurant kitchens, including family-owned Italian eatery Guiseppe’s Ristorante and Maggiano’s Little Italy at the Rim.
“I loved the adrenaline and the fast pace and working with my hands,” Head told the Currentduring a recent interview. “That’s what first drew me in. That turned into the love of cooking and creating flavors and textures.”
After honing his craft at Sustenio Restaurant & Bar as a cook and then opening his own Southeast Asian food stand, Tim Doi, Head relocated to New York City in 2015 to further his culinary career.
Today, he and his wife Nhung Dao own the Vietnamese restaurant Mắm in Chinatown and the wine bar Lai Rai. In a few weeks, they plan to open Phê, a coffee and bánh mì sandwich shop.
Recently, Head and his Vietnam-born spouse pivoted from culinary arts to the cinematic by starring in the indie rom-com Mam, inspired by Head’s own culinary journey.
The film, which premiered last month at the SXSW Film & TV Festival, follows Jerald (Head), a self-taught chef from Texas who moves to New York City to open a restaurant. He teams up with Nhung (Dao), a clever waitress who helps him turn his dream into a reality.
During our interview, Head talked about why he wanted to make a narrative film about his life and what he thinks is the most stressful part of the filmmaking process.
How were you introduced to Vietnamese food?
When I was a young cook, this group of veteran cooks invited me out to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant. At that point, I never had or even could imagine what Vietnamese food was. I was absolutely blown away by the diversity of the cuisine, the freshness, and how different it was to me. It was very similar to how I fell in love with the restaurant business. I just followed my heart and what made me happy.
What led you to play a chef in a movie?
For me, it sounded like a fun idea. It was just another opportunity to open as many doors as I could and see what came out. We did a rehearsal where [co-writer/director] Nan Feix followed me around with a camera as I shopped for the restaurant. There was no script. It was natural. Later, he presented me with the story. I was excited to be an actor in a film about my life.
Your character is named Jerald too. Did it feel like you were playing yourself?
Not really. I mean, the emotions and experiences of the character aren’t 100% my life. So, it felt like I was telling a story. I just followed the flow and the energy of the scenes that we were doing that day or in the moment.
What part of the film’s narrative is the closest to your real life?
What is true about Mắm is that it did have a very unorthodox and humble start. It was my wife and I starting it up as a pop-up. We had no money or investors. We had no partners, which is still true to this day. It started from a seed, and it grew into a full-fledged restaurant.
Since you had no acting background, was it challenging or did it come naturally?
I just treated it as a job and applied my work ethic. It was cool to be in a different environment and in a different work field. I’ve never known anything other than the kitchen. It was great not having to make decisions like I do every day as a restaurant operator. I just followed the director’s lead. I thought about how my character was feeling and tried to find a way to express the emotion that felt comfortable for me.
Is there anything in culinary arts comparable to cinematic arts?
Teamwork — especially when we were shooting on Super 16mm film. There was some stress to make sure you got the scene right when the director called action. We would rehearse and rehearse and rehearse, and then it was like, “OK, we’re going live!” Super 16mm film is costly, so nobody wanted to mess up the take.
Do you hope a film like this makes people curious about Vietnamese cuisine if they haven’t tried it before?
Sure! I mean, I feel like the story doesn’t strongly highlight the gastronomy of Vietnamese food. But it’s also something I might take for granted because it’s my food. Maybe people have no idea that Vietnamese cuisine has a type of blood sausage. I always hope that people learn more and open their eyes to the world of Vietnamese cuisine.
Well, before I saw the film, I only knew what pho and bánh mì were, so I learned about some new dishes. For people who aren’t familiar with Vietnamese food, what’s some good advice to follow when going into a Vietnamese restaurant?
It depends where you live. I feel like the Vietnamese restaurant scene in San Antonio is kind of stuck in time. You’d have to go to Houston where there’s a huge Vietnamese population to find the food that is being cooked in Vietnam or the food we’re cooking at Mắm. I think if you’re trying something new, you should always go in with an open mind.
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