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Robots will soon be crafting juicy burgers and crispy chicken sandwiches next to a DJ mixing upbeat tunes inside a former historic bank in Los Gatos.
For Oishi Mirai Restaurant Group founder Elizabeth Truong, the project is a significant step toward the legacy she hopes to leave behind.
“Everything about me actually is inspired by my kids,” she said. “My five-year plan really is to let my kids know that their mother played a huge role in changing the world of food.”
Truong opened her first full-service restaurant in Los Gatos in February, a Vietnamese fusion brunch concept called Breaking Dawn. The restaurant offers modernized versions of her daughter’s favorite childhood dishes like souffle pancakes and pork belly fried rice. Troung plans to open her dinner concept, First Born, out of the same location as Breaking Dawn on June 20 – a concept inspired by her son. Expect to see two robots crafting burgers and sandwiches at Breaking Dawn and First Born later in the summer.
“My goal is to do automation, but make it make the food taste good,” Truong said. “Because when people think about automated food or robotic food, they always think that must be gross. So for me, the future of food is a delicious future.”
Burger Bots, a robotic burger concept
Truong has been in the restaurant industry since she was a teenager.
“My first job was actually just peeling carrots in the back of a kitchen,” she said.
During the two decades she worked in the fast-casual space, she noticed three main problems in the restaurant industry: cost of goods, consistency of product and transparency between the restaurant and the customer. So she decided to tackle the problem herself with Burger Bots, a pair of robots that could consistently create burgers and sandwiches directly in front of customers.
But to launch Burger Bots, she needed a restaurant space. And she found the perfect spot while waiting for her teenage daughter to wrap up a date in Los Gatos.
“I was walking past what was Pizza Chicago at that time, and I called my best friend (to come hang out),” Truong said. “I noticed that the place had parking and the front of the building was really nice. So I told my best friend, ‘Hey, I think I’m gonna walk in and ask him if he can sell me his restaurant.’ And he was like, ‘No, you won’t,’ and I was like, ‘Dare me,’ so he was like, ‘I dare you.’ So I walked in, and I asked him if he would sell me his restaurant, and he said, ‘Yeah.’”
Breaking Dawn, a brunch concept inspired by Chloe Le
Baring a logo of a pig, Breaking Dawn is inspired by Troung’s 16-year-old daughter, Chloe Le, who was born the year of the golden pig.
“It has no affiliation with ‘Twilight,’” Truong said. “It’s just that when dawn breaks is when people wake up and they get ready for the day, so that’s breakfast. All the food that’s on the breakfast menu is all of Chloe’s favorite growing up. It’s just elevated.”
Find dishes like pho poutine ($16), a lemongrass tofu burger ($22), banh xeo tacos ($18) and the RBF (Resting Brunch Face) with fried chicken, a pandan waffle, cafe sua da syrup and berries ($23). Drinks include a variety of cocktails, coffees, teas and juices.
“One thing I really love about our menu is you know how everyone always says, ‘Mom’s cooking is the best’? My mom’s cooking is the best,” said Chloe, a student at Los Gatos High School.
Not only was Chloe involved with Breaking Dawn’s menu, she’s also part of the Breaking Dawn team. You can find her hosting at the brunch restaurant, and she hopes to eventually work her way up to manager.
“My kids both have to work from the bottom up with me,” Truong said. “If they don’t work from the bottom up, they will never be good leaders.”
Find a DJ cranking up the tunes Friday through Sunday, and birthdays are celebrated with a special birthday song.
“I want to create a space where people will be like, ‘This is actually a fun Sunday. This is cool. The food was good. The service is great. There was a DJ,’” Truong said. “I’m pretty sure it’s not for everyone because it’s like a day club Friday to Sunday, but I feel like in the Bay Area, we’re missing that. We’re just missing that vibe.”
First Born, a dinner concept inspired by Brandon Le
Opening June 20, First Born will introduce Vietnamese fusion dinner at the same location as Breaking Dawn.
“First Born is all going to be food that I grew up on, but of course elevated,” said Truong’s son Brandon Le.
Find dishes like caramelized pork, deconstructed banh mi boards (a play on charcuterie boards) and deconstructed spring rolls that guests wrap themselves at the table.
“A lot of this stuff is a memory of my kids and I,” Truong said. “Every dish that’s here…played some significant role in my life.”
Le attended the International Culinary Center in San Jose and had an internship right down the street from the Breaking Dawn location. Now, the 27-year-old owns and manages a fast-casual restaurant in Dublin, splitting his time between his business and helping out with his mom’s new restaurants.
When Le isn’t working, he’s creating music under the name BANX. Like Breaking Dawn, First Born will have live music Friday through Sunday, and customers may hear some of BANX’s original music on the playlist.
A family’s passion
“When you talk about Oishi Mirai Group, it’s just us three,” Truong said. “We’re all involved in each other’s lives heavily – personally, financially, business. Everything that I do, I tell them about it.”
Truong has no investors or partners in her restaurant group, she said.
“I want to take the risk upon myself; I want to take the failure upon myself,” she said.
Truong and her children look forward to launching First Born and Burger Bots in June.
“Whoever comes into Breaking Dawn is a part of our family,” Chloe said. “And we’re all family around here.”
Truong, who became a grandmother May 1, says she hopes to eventually add even more concepts to the Oishi Mirai Restaurant Group.
“I don’t think anything in me wants to stop,” Truong said. “When you do something that you love and you’re creating something for someone else, there’s no tiredness – you just want to give.”
Breaking Dawn, 160 W Main St., Los Gatos; 669-297-8888, Instagram: @breakingdawnbrunch. Open Tuesday through Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
First Born, 160 W Main St., Los Gatos; 669-297-8888, Instagram: @firstbornlosgatos.
Burger Bots, 160 W Main St., Los Gatos; Instagram: @burgerbots.