Sydney restaurant owner Nahji Chu says hard work goes unthanked

Sydney restaurant owner Nahji Chu became emotional while describing the strain of running a business in Australia, saying people who work hard receive little thanks. Her comments highlight the pressures facing business owners, while she also said she wants to stay in Sydney and benefit from the work she has put into her restaurant.

Chu owns Lady Chu in Potts Point, which opened as a takeaway in 2019 and expanded into a sit-down restaurant in 2021. Born in Laos to a Vietnamese family, she arrived in Australia as a child refugee. She also spoke of ambitions to tell Vietnamese stories through filmmaking and interviews with people who, like her, built lives in hospitality; despite some one-star reviews, her restaurant averages four stars on Google.