Ask any Northcote local and they’ll tell you that Brother Bon is one of the most interesting and inventive restaurants on High Street.
It’s more than a vegan restaurant, but a living tribute to family, culture and compassion. At the helm are brothers William (head chef) and James Pham (general manager), whose passion for vegan and Asian food is what makes the restaurant such a favourite among the community.
However, the story of Brother Bon starts way before the two brothers were born. It starts with a boy from a rural village in Vietnam. After surviving the horrors of the Vietnam War, including imprisonment in a re-education camp, Bon was granted asylum in Australia. When Bon discovered vegetarianism, he opened a bakery in Preston called La Panella. That’s where Bon’s sons William and James got their first taste for the food industry.
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“At a very young age, we were always at the bakery helping out with rolling bread, portioning dough and baking,” William recalls. Though he initially pursued a degree in Accounting and Finance, William’s true passion for food eventually led him to study at Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne. From there, he cut his teeth as a pastry chef at Pascale Bar and Grill at the QT Hotel, but life had other plans.
In 2016, following a long battle with leukaemia, Bon sadly passed away. William and James kept his memory alive by opening the vegan restaurant that their dad had always dreamed of starting.
“Without much time to grieve, William and I were thrown into the deep end,” James says. From washing dishes to running front-of-house, James’ on-the-job education was fast and intense. But it was in those everyday moments and seeing the way their food brings people together that James “found something deeper.”
For William and James, the decision to start a fully vegan restaurant wasn’t about following trends, it’s part of their story. Their parents were vegan long before it became mainstream, and it’s shaped them into who they are today and what they stand for.
For James, his passion for animal welfare has been lifelong: “When you look into how animals are raised and slaughtered for food, you come to realise the public have been kept in the dark about it.”
“When we first started, there weren’t many fully vegan restaurants in Melbourne,” says William. There were a few vegetarian and plant-based restaurants but we felt like none that were offering food that was hitting those amazing Asian flavours. We tried to fill that gap and make Brother Bon a unique destination for great tasting food that happens to be vegan.”
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The innovativeness of William’s creations is what keeps people coming back. For Brother Bon first timers, he recommends the Wagyu Nigiri with Truffle Butter. “You won’t find it anywhere else. You won’t believe it’s not beef.”
Over the past decade, Brother Bon has grown into a local institution, supported by a loyal customer base who come not just for the food, but for the warmth and hospitality. “We would not be here without every person who has dined, got takeaway, ordered pickup or got food delivered over these years,” William and James both agree.
And if they could do it all over again? “We would still choose Northcote” — proof that some things really are meant to be.
This article was made in partnership with Brother Bon.
