Featured Image: Addison Leboutillier
“Being kind costs your business nothing” – Wilson Brannock
The first time I dined at Noko, I sat at the bar directly across from the roaring flames used to prepare their assortment of wood-fired dishes. My brother Jack (my favorite foodie and perpetual +1) and I watched chef Dung ‘Junior’ Vo balance a filled-to-the-brim dining room with an effortlessness that can only be described as art. We watched him energetically prepare and plate dishes whisked away by cheerful servers, leaving an enticing aroma in their path.
Then it was our turn. We popped bites of tuna-topped crispy rice, fighting as siblings do over the last portion. We unanimously agreed the green beans were the best we’d had. We shared a life-affirming experience over a simple grilled cheese. We slurped our first bone marrow. We sat speechless enjoying a perfectly crispy yet melt-in-your-mouth Tomahawk steak.
Just as we licked our fingers for our last bite, the room went dark—the dining room filled with wood smoke. The power had gone out, taking the exhaust fan with it.
An event like this has the potential for panic or uproar from customers feeling robbed of their experience. As a food writer privileged to often get the VIP treatment, I quickly switched to observation mode to see how the Noko team cares for all their guests, not just invited ones.
They quickly and calmly funneled us to their patio and informed everyone of their options: stick around for a parking lot party or opt for a special reservation for a subsequent night. To my surprise, nearly everyone stayed…all smiles. Junior brought the grill’s flaming wood outside and Jon refreshed drinks—on the house. When the power was restored soon after, everyone filed back in, chalking it up to a special experience as opposed to an annoying inconvenience.
That night sealed my status as a super fan, but was solidified in stone during their first birthday celebration a year later. On a Monday night when the restaurant is typically closed, a group of food writers and creators were invited to share a meal with the team to celebrate a groundbreaking year. But, while they kept us well-fed, they opted to bring in their charity partner to speak to the room of influential Nashvillians instead of making the evening about themselves.
This philanthropic spirit is a foundation at Noko—one percent of annual revenue is donated to Nashville Children’s Alliance, a nonprofit providing resources to children who have experienced abuse or violence.
If you’ve dined at Noko, you can likely relate to that VIP treatment. They’re known to make any visit a special one—from friendly staff serving one of the best meals you can find in Nashville to little happies in celebration of a special occasion and even phone calls from the owners to check in the day after your meal.
Southern hospitality isn’t a novel idea, but the way Jon, Wilson, and Junior put it into practice at Noko is the gold standard. For this reason, Noko Nashville is the recipient of our first-ever Southern Charm Award, which recognizes excellence in hospitality.
Here’s the story behind Nashville’s budding hospitality group.
A Serendipitous Story
Jon Murray entered the restaurant industry by washing dishes at Applebee’s. A career in hospitality wasn’t on his radar—in fact, he worked in the music business for six years. But, while living in Charleston during the recession, restaurants were one of his only options for a livable wage. He started serving at O-Ku, climbing the ladder as the years went on. Eventually, he moved to Atlanta to manage that location.
Atlanta-born Wilson Brannock was a karate instructor during his teenage years, but started working in restaurants soon after high school. Just down the road, Dung “Junior” Vo had moved to an Atlanta suburb from Vietnam and was cutting his teeth at a hibachi restaurant learning all things sushi and guest experience.
One fateful day, Jon hired both Wilson and Junior to work at O-Ku. Little did he know, the ball was in motion for what would become a standard-defining team.
“During Covid, we’d go over to each other’s houses and we’d whip up dishes we all loved, and we always steered toward Asian ingredients,” Jon said. The group had all moved to Charleston at this point, and Wilson had moved into Junior’s home.
“I had a legit dream with Wilson in it… that he and I were supposed to start a company,” Jon laughs. “I’ll never forget it. I was driving to Raleigh and called Wilson like I was asking a girl out on a date. Without hesitation, he said yes. And then we bamboozled Junior into coming in.”
They set their sights on Nashville, and after a call to a broker, the ball was in motion to open their own restaurant. Inspired by backyard cooking, Noko would be a neighborhood-focused destination serving Asian-inspired, wood-fired dishes paired with excellent cocktails and high-touch service.
Redefining Southern Hospitality
So what’s their secret to gold-standard hospitality? Start by investing in the team, and the rest will follow.
“We treat them the way they want to be treated, and it goes down the line,” Junior says.
Noko offers their team members paid time off, a consistent work schedule (a rarity in restaurants), a travel stipend—going so far as to help employees plan and book travel, a daily gratitude circle, and much more.
“Our leading stance is to love our people, and then they end up loving our guests,” Jon adds. “Instead of hiring people who have these great resumes, we just hire good people. If you hire good people, good people will do good things. We owe it all to our team.”
In addition to the belief that hospitality starts with hiring, Wilson adds a parting thought for all business owners: “Being kind costs your business nothing.”
Junior likens Noko’s success to a recipe—they didn’t create the idea of an Asian, wood-fired restaurant, just like they didn’t create the idea of hospitality.
“We all lived through these things, and now we have the experience to create our own recipe,” he says. “It isn’t perfect, but we’re working on it every day, week, month.”
The First Southern Charm
Receiving Modern South Magazine’s debut Southern Charm award was, unsurprisingly, met with humility.
“The three of us never chase awards; we chase change,” Jon adds. “Part of our story is making sure we change hospitality for the better—not striving to win awards or be the number one restaurant, but to be the best for our people and the best for ourselves.”
The Noko team recently debuted their second restaurant right next door. Kase is a 14-course, 14-seat omakase experience led by Junior. Reservations are Nashville’s hottest commodity these days.
And rumor has it, they aren’t stopping there.
To learn more about the Southern Charms program, click here.
