FOOD: Chef Thoa Nguyen achieves her dream of opening a bakery

banhandbutter.com

Owner and Chef of Bánh & Butter

9935 E Colfax Ave, \ Aurora, CO 80010 Tel: (720) 513-9313

@banhbutterbakerycafe

MEET CHEF THOA N G UYEN

Bánh & Butter recently opened on East Colfax featuring specialty coffee drinks, unforgettable pastries, and delectable sweets.

What is your cooking background?

‘Pastry chef by day and culinary chef by night’ best describes me. Professionally, I am a pastry chef, but I am also a culinary chef, which shines within my family. Much of my cooking techniques came from my mom.

Growing up, I also watched food shows and was inspired by various types of cuisine from different cultures. A lot of research on techniques, flavors, ingredients, and spices all contribute to my culinary style and recipe development. Garlic shrimp linguini was the first Italian dish I made that opened the doors to other food cultures.

How did you decide on the name Bánh & Butter?

The name is a play on the idiom “Bread & Butter.” Croissants were a huge inspiration to to the name. I knew ‘butter’ needed to be incorporated, but wanted to integrate my Vietnamese culture into the name. “Bánh” is a Vietnamese term that refers to a wide variety of breads, sweet and savory pastries.

With Asian fusion inspired flavors in our classical French/American pastries, the name Bánh & Butter couldn’t be more perfect for our business model. And truly this bakery cafe is the bread and butter for us.

For those that assume we are only a Vietnamese sandwich shop, it gives us the opportunity to enlighten our customers that “bánh” is more than just bánh mi. It’s bánh croissant, bánh choux creme (cream puffs), bánh ngọt (sweet pastries), bánh mặn (savory pastries), and more.

What is your favorite pastry?

My favorite pastry to eat are cream puffs. It’s a family favorite. My favorite pastry to make are all laminated dough products such as croissants, puff pastries, danishes, etc.

Who is on your Bánh & Butter team?

Our team consists of my youngest sister, Kha who manages the front. and my friend who formerly worked at Whole Foods Market, Rachel, as back of the house manager.

My other team members previously worked at Third Culture (the bakery that had closed in the same location) and have taken on baker roles and are doing an amazing job! The rest of my team are made up of interns from Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. Prior to Bánh & Butter, I was a pastry chef instructor at Auguste Escoffier and the interns were previously my students.

What are your plans for the future?

I hope to bring in more savory selections to our pastries and expand a bit on the bánh mi options. Although we are not a gluten-free bakery due to the amount of flour we use, I would like to incorporate gluten-friendly products.

The support from the community has been so heart warming. This business is so community driven. We have surrounding businesses such as, Baba & Pop’s Pierogi, Lady Justice Brewery, The People’s Building, Ab Barber Shop, Cerebral Brewing, Miette, Fox Theater, Downtown Aurora Visual Arts Center and so many more business in the area that have supported us since day 1.

There’s a very strong community support system here on East Colfax. It is inspiring and I am forever thankful.