Australian UFC featherweight champion Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski made a surprise visit to popular Perth restaurant Le Vietnam to learn from the owner how to make their viral Banh Mi.
The Wollongong local was spotted at the WWE with Perth UFC star Jack Della Maddalena, supporting Aussie wrestler Grayson Waller at the Crown Jewel at RAC arena.
The 37-year-old then paid a visit to the renowned restaurant on Monday, filming some content for his channel Cooking With Volk.
Le Vietnam owner Dj Lee said the two-time champion reached out and was keen to come try the popular feed.
“They sent out a message saying we’re going to be in town,” Lee told PerthNow.
“It just happens that for Volk one of his favourite meals is Banh Mi so he’s been wanting to hit us up for a while.”
Camera IconVolk filmed some content for his cooking channel at the popular Perth joint. Credit: Instagram @cookinwithvolk
Le Vietnam has grown to be a viral success and often a must-visit for celebrities when they come to Perth, with Katy Perry even recently calling it “The best Banh Mi I’ve ever had — hands down”.
Lee showed Volk all his tricks of the trade, teaching the superstar what goes in to making their sell-out sandwich.
Despite his status, Lee said the fighting icon was humble and eager to learn how the professional went about his business.
“He was like a student, very willing to learn and asked the right questions… what are the tips and tricks and stuff like that,” the ‘Bani Mi king’ said.
“We deconstructed our traditional Banh Mi and went through each ingredient and explained to him how it got there.
Camera IconVolk learning the tricks of the trade. Credit: Instagram @cookinwithvolk
“He was willing to hear about our story of Le Vietnam for the last 12 years and he wanted to learn about that.
“He researched us and knew what questions to ask… we spent about two hours together at the shop and it was like a kid in a candy store.”
Volkanovski’s team have already posted a video of their cooking session onto his Instagram page, saying he learnt how to make “the REAL DEAL Banh Mi”.
Although there is more to come, with Lee telling fans of the shop and ‘The Great’ to watch out for some “Big news” dropping soon.
“There’s something that’s going to be awesome that’s about to drop, so you better stay tuned,” he said.