This Brooklyn Bakery is Leading a New Wave of Vietnamese Desserts

"At this Brooklyn-based Vietnamese-American bakery launched in February 2021 by owner and founder Doris Hồ-Kane (Bạn Bè means “friend”), I encounter a daily-changing menu meant to preserve family recipes and cultural memory. Offerings can include multi-colored pandan waffles, mooncakes, bánh mì, tins of her signature bơ butter cookies (flavors such as cà phê crunch, black sesame ube, coconut pandan, and tamarind cacao nib are highlighted), and thạch rau câu fruit jellies made like her grandmother’s. I’ve seen layered agar jellies molded into rau câu dừa lá dứa flower shapes and an elegant cà phê thạch rau câu flan that stacks flan with Vietnamese coffee–infused agar jelly in a Bundt form. Hồ-Kane’s vibrant, nostalgic desserts blend Vietnamese traditions with Western influences and serve as a personal, healing extension of her family’s refugee story, emphasizing memory, representation, and creative survival." - Alexandra Domrongchai