‘I didn’t miss my job, I missed my lunch’: The woman who quit her job to cook Vietnamese pho for a living

After 17 years in the rat race, Daniya Stewart quit her job to found PHOMO, so that she could share her love for the classic Vietnamese dish with home cooks all over the country. By Hannah Twiggs

Stewart says pho ‘hits the spot for so many reasons’ (PHOMO)

In the middle of the first lockdown last year, Daniya Stewart started to miss her work lunches. That’s not to say she missed her job in the renewable energy sector – and certainly not the commute – but she was missing pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup she had eaten almost every day in London. At home, outside of the city, she couldn’t find anything like it.

So she started to experiment.

After perfecting recipes for beef, chicken, king prawn and vegan pho in her kitchen, and taste testing on her family, Stewart turned her back on 17 years in the rat race to found PHOMO. Named not just for the feeling of missing out (in this case, on delicious authentic pho), but for the ability to eat pho in a mo from the comfort of your own home.

OK, so that’s a bit cheesy, but that’s the only cheese you’ll find here. Made fresh to order with the highest quality ingredients and shipped out weekly, the kits come with everything you need to whip up an authentic Vietnamese dish from home: broth (pre-cooked for up to eight hours), gluten free noodles, fresh herbs, protein, lime and chilli, all packed up in recyclable materials. And, coming in at just under 500 calories, the kits make for a healthy, quick and easy dinner, encompassing slurpy, crunchy and chewy deliciousness in a light but powerful broth.

The kit comes with everything you need, including a pre-cooked broth and fresh ingredients (PHOMO)

As she launches her seasonal specials (first up a summer feast with steak and summer rolls), we sit down with Stewart to chat about realising she didn’t want to go back to her day job, the realities of setting up a new business during a pandemic and the joy of bringing restaurant-quality dining into people’s homes.

What inspired you to make such a big career change?

I had reached the end of my tether in the city and was frustrated with the difficulties I faced as a female in a very male dominated industry. Whilst companies were making some effort to change, it was just not happening quickly enough and I was fed up of facing the same challenges in different companies. The decision came at a time when I was at home more due to Covid and I realised my kids were growing up so quickly and rather than needing us less, I felt they were actually starting to need us more. All of this crystallised into a realisation that I didn’t want to go back to a city job.

How did you decide on PHO?

Before I resigned from my job, I realised that I didn’t miss my job, I didn’t miss my commute but I really did miss my lunch. I had eaten pho almost every day in London for lunch as it is fresh, filling and healthy. During lockdown I couldn’t find it anywhere and discovered that Vietnamese food is largely unrepresented in the UK outside of major cities, but there are plenty of people like me who live outside of big cities and still want to try good quality different foods. I think Vietnamese food and pho hits the right spot for so many reasons. It is a very healthy cuisine with lots of fresh veg, lean meats and gluten free rice noodles, plus it has french influenced flavours making it appeal to a wider range of tastes than some other Asian cuisines. Chilli, whilst still a dominant ingredient, can be added at the end with sauces or fresh chilli so you can appeal to everyone in this way.

What is your favourite thing on the menu?

This is not a reasonable question!

I like all the kits because my favourite part are the fresh herbs and garnishes added at the end – these really lift the dish from a noodle soup to something completely different which feels vibrant, fresh and full of goodness. If you make me pick, there is something deeply satisfying about watching the thinly sliced rare steak in our beef pho kit being cooked by the boiling broth.

The beef kit: the meat is so thin, it cooks when you add the steaming hot broth (PHOMO)

Has your business been affected since lockdown lifted or are people still keen to order for home?

Well we are a lockdown business so we have no benchmark from before. But certainly I think people enjoy being able to be transported to the flavours of a far away destination and the food quality of a good restaurant, all from the comfort of their homes, and I think that this is something which will continue even when the world returns to some normality.

Tell me about your newly launched seasonal summer kits.

Whilst pho is the most famous Vietnamese dish and will always be our signature, I wanted to give people more variety and options to make their home eating experiences something to talk about. I want to launch seasonal and regional specials throughout the year that will take people on a food journey of Vietnam in their homes. The summer kits were launched to start this adventure. They are based on the Vietnamese noodle dish bún which is vermicelli noodles served with marinated meat or tofu, pickled carrots, salad and herbs and all finished with nuoc cham sauce, which is a sort of light sweet and sour dressing. You have a lot more of this than you would a normal salad dressing as it soaks into the dish. We have also added summer rolls which I got asked about a lot, these are also served with the nuoc cham and are very messy to eat – another bonus of eating at home!

Stewart has included a tofu kit for vegetarians and vegans (PHOMO)

Sustainability is so important – what steps have you taken to get behind this?

Given my previous life was working in the renewable energy space for 17 years, I was adamant I wanted to start a business that had sustainability as a focus. All of our boxes and packaging are recyclable and we are keeping an eye on the latest developments in biodegradable vacuum bags so we can move to these as soon as possible. Because we cook to order we also have no food waste.

What has been the most challenging aspect of starting your own business?

The rollercoaster of emotions and doing it on my own. Trying to balance the highs and lows of the business with the personal emotions that come with it is tricky. I have to give myself a stern talking to sometimes, although it’s not always inspirational. A few months ago there was an issue with the packaging and I was so upset because I hate letting customers down. I went for a long walk with my dog in a wide open field and managed to get some perspective. I said out loud to myself: “Just because you f**ked up, it doesn’t make you a f**k up!” And I actually realised it was right. I now have a co-founder on board and the emotional support of just having someone else in the business to talk to is invaluable.

Name someone you would love to cook for.

My dad. I haven’t seen him for nearly two years because he lives in the US. I would love to share what I am doing with him as he hasn’t tried the food. He’s always been my biggest challenger and whilst it drives me crazy, I don’t think I would be where I am today without him pushing me to work harder.

How much cooking is involved when you order a PHOMO kit?

We try to keep it to under 10 minutes. This is not a meal kit where you just get raw, unprepared ingredients. We try to prepare everything that can be in advance. The only items we do not prepare for you are the ones which would suffer in shipping – this means you have to cook your own noodles and meats and chop your own veg. But our broths, which take between 5 to 8 hours to get that really authentic taste, have all been done for you.

Do you have options for vegetarians and vegans?

Absolutely – at home we were vegetarians for a few years when I was a kid and there was a salad on every dinner table growing up… even with a sunday roast, so I love vegetarian food. Our vegan pho kit has been on the menu since day one and even my meat fiend husband says it is as good as the meat ones! We use the best quality tofu I could find to maintain the same high ingredient quality in our vegan pho. I also want to make our dishes inclusive to as many people as possible, be it vegan or because of allergies. So we use gluten free soy sauce, gluten free rice noodles (in our vegan dishes which cannot use a traditional fish sauce) and we avoid sesame oil and nuts.