Portsmouth chef and owner of Nikki’s Banh Mi shows how to make Vietnamese, Laotian dishes

Deb Cram, Portsmouth Herald
·1 min read

Taste of Local makes its debut, going into the kitchen at Nikki’s Banh Mi Shop with chef and owner Nikki Nachampassak. She specializes in Vietnamese and Laotian cooking, and she also owns Darleens Sub & Pizza, which she operates out of the same space.

Nikki’s Banh Mi Shop is located at 801 Islington Street No. 14 in Portsmouth. You can reach her shop at 603-431-5445 and browse the menu at nikkisbanhmi.com.

Nachampassak, who prepares drunken noodles and her eggplant special in her Taste of Local video, introduces herself to us (answers lightly edited):

  • What is your full name? Nikki Nachampassak

  • Where are you from? Laos

  • Tell us about your family: My whole family is here in Portsmouth, my parents, two brothers and one sister. My only son and his family are all in Washington state. He’s in the Army.

  • Why did you want to become a chef? I love feeding people! I love food!

  • Where did you train and for how long? What did you learn in your training? No training other than self-training and the love for food.

  • Have you worked in any previous restaurants? If so, where? No.

  • Have you won any awards? None. Big smiles and a thank you are my awards.

  • Are you involved with any community events? I help out when I can by giving back to the schools. I donate when I can to the community.

  • Is there a fun fact or interesting fact you'd like to share about yourself? I love gardening and cooking. Gardening is for my mind — it relaxes me and gives me alone time to be creative. Cooking and experimenting is fun.

Taste of Local is a series produced by Seacoastonline.com and Fosters.com featuring local chefs preparing dishes they love. Do you know a chef we should feature? Email Deb Cram at dcram@seacoastonline.com and news@seacoastonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth restaurant chef demonstrates Vietnamese, Laotian meals