CHICAGO — Hai Hai's Christina Nguyen still feels like Monday night was a dream.
Her friend, fellow chef, and previous winner Ann Kim announced her win as Best Chef: Midwest.
Nguyen was nominated in that category five times before. She thanked her team, husband and co-owner Birk Grudem, and immigrant parents.
"They had to start their lives over from scratch when they moved here with no warning," said Nguyen while wiping away tears. "They taught me that anything is possible. To not be afraid."
On Tuesday, Hai Hai has a group of customers waiting for them to open their doors for dinner time. Nguyen was still in Chicago.
"It's just been absolutely insane," she said. "It feels kind of like a dream."
She said she hadn't seen her emotional acceptance speech yet, there hadn't been any time with all the congratulatory messages she got. In fact, she booked a spa day for Tuesday morning because she didn't plan on winning the night before.
She says that many have told her how much her heartfelt speech impacted them, but she doesn't remember much of it.
"It's exciting in recognition of what our team does," she said. "But I do feel like I blacked out when I was giving the speech. I just remember crying a lot. And that being unexpected, because I'm not not much of a crier."
Nguyen says reservations have been filling up for her two restaurants Hai Hai and Hola Arepa.
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