Paul’s Palette: Food as Love, Food as History
Paul Paulette
At 30, Houston-raised, Vietnamese-American cook Paul Paulette is building a table big enough for memory, migration, and pure pleasure. On Instagram as @paulspalette, he plates comfort and context side by side, posting step-by-step recipes with captions that trace each dish’s roots. “Food is a way people tell their stories,” he says. “It’s how I show love and how I learn.”
That conviction began in front of a TV. As a kid, Paul was a picky eater until Anthony Bourdain knocked open the door. Watching Anthony presented Paul with a view of food as culture, empathy, and adventure. It’s the only celebrity loss that made him emotional. Years later, the pandemic gave him time and a challenge. He binge-watched MasterChef and cooking anime, then taught himself to cook from scratch. Friends still joke they once watched him fumble an egg; today, they line up for his F&F one-off events.
Paul’s captions read like miniature field notes: Viet diaspora, Gulf Coast tides, and how histories collide on a plate. Growing up in the South, he saw Viet-Cajun culture bloom; in his writing, he unpacks how dishes evolve as people move, and how national policy, migration, and markets shape what we taste. He talks about “food as inherently political” not to lecture, but to humanize, because we all eat, and every bite comes from somewhere.
Lately, his obsession is spilling beyond the stove. Inspired by fashion, anime, and film, Paul is launching Little Dinhware, a kitchenware line that treats tools like personal style. He bets that if sneakers and bags can carry attitude, cooking spoons and future knives can too.
He spent months mood-boarding, hiring an industrial designer, 3D-printing prototypes, and persuading a manufacturer to take a chance on a first run. “I didn’t know anything about making spoons,” he laughs. “You just have to be willing to learn something new every day.” The goal is a spoon with function and personality and a brand identity playful enough to live on someone’s counter even if they’ve never heard of it.
After a few years in New York City, Paul says the best part isn’t the skyline but the sense of company. Seeing other people grinding late and chasing impossible ideas inspires him. When cooking, Paul listens to PinkPantheress, Mac Miller, Still Woozy, Tyler the Creator, and—yes—NewJeans; he posts dishes with footnotes; he prototypes packaging between simmer and sear.
What’s next? Paul aims to sell through the first product, reinvest, and expand the line—possibly through collaborations in Japan or Korea down the road. But the mission stays simple: cook, teach, and make objects that say “I see you” to home cooks like him. “Don’t be afraid to fail in public,” Paul says. “That’s how you find your people and your flavor.”