Instead of filming in a studio or at his acclaimed Vietnamese restaurant in Australia, chef and host Luke Nguyen is taking us straight to the source on Luke’s Vietnam. He travels through the country, visiting family members and cooking and tasting the cuisine of his homeland...

Before feasting your eyes on his adventures on Cooking Channel in July, here are

1. Vietnam is not technically his birthplace. Luke is Vietnamese, but was born in a Thai refugee camp after his parents fled Vietnam in 1978. The family then settled in Australia.

2. He comes from a food-obsessed family. Luke’s parents owned restaurants in the Vietnamese neighborhood of Cabramatta (outside of Sydney), and his older sister Pauline is his business partner and cookbook co-author.

3. The menu at Luke’s award-winning Sydney restaurant, Red Lantern, features many dishes he’ll make on the show, such as the classic Vietnamese salad Goi Du Du Tom Thit— Green Papaya Salad with Prawn and Pork.

4. He leads 13-day culinary tours of Vietnam for chefs and food-lovers.

5. In his spare time (which we can’t imagine he has much of!) Luke founded the Little Lantern Foundation, a non-profit that teaches Vietnamese kids skills for success in the restaurant and hospitality industries.