Berlu Bakery
Bakery · Buckman
661 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97214
Highlights
Vietnamese bakery from James Beard winner Vince Nguyen
Vietnamese bakery from James Beard winner Vince Nguyen
"Founded by chef Vince Nguyen — who worked at Castagna, Royal Mail in Australia and Noma in Copenhagen and opened his tasting-menu restaurant in 2019 — the bakery’s origins trace to the pandemic, when Nguyen wrote in an email, “I had never previously cooked much traditional Vietnamese food, but like many during this time, found pride in my heritage and was able to connect to my Vietnamese roots through food.” In lockdown he recreated a childhood pandan birthday cake memory and landed on bánh bò nướng as the signature item: the name translates to “baked cow cake” because of its resemblance to a cow’s udder, and it’s a sweet, slightly chewy sponge cake with a honeycomb texture made primarily with tapioca flour (hence gluten-free). Nguyen’s first attempt at the recipe “turned out so perfectly,” and he only adjusted salt and sweetness; the biggest technical change was switching to a homemade single-acting baking powder made from cream of tartar and baking soda after inconsistent results with store-bought packets. The pandan version became the runaway hit — early pop-ups used pandan extract that gave a bright, fluorescent green interior, but now he steeps fresh pandan leaves grown in Hawaii in coconut milk, blends and strains the mixture through nut-milk bags for color and flavor, bakes the cake for an hour, then cools it upside down. While another version, bánh bò hấp, is steamed, Nguyen feels the baked style is “far superior,” though he is adding a few steamed flavors to be served with salted coconut cream. The bánh bò nướng also anchors a savory avocado toast: Nguyen, a self-proclaimed fan of classic American dishes “partly because I didn’t grow up eating them,” wanted a version of avocado toast with banana bread but found the banana loaf too dense — “You need the contrast that traditional toasted sourdough gives to the avocado because the avocado is so soft,” he says, and bánh bò nướng supplies that lightness and crunchy edges. The cake is toasted on a grill “pretty aggressively” to add char and a savory balance, then topped with organic avocado slices, seasoned, and finished with alfalfa sprouts and fried shallots; it arrives with a side of salted coconut cream with added fig leaf oil and a house chile oil, and Nguyen suggests guests pick up the toast and “spoon the coconut cream and chile oil on each bite.” Diners who’ve dropped into the bakery during the soft opening love it, he says. Another signature is bánh khoai mì nướng — a cassava cake with a mochi-like texture that’s vegan and made without eggs using both cassava and mung bean; Nguyen treats it like a pineapple-upside-down cake (recently adding kiwi slices), then adds a pastry shell after baking to give a tart-like feel and textural contrast, with seasonal fruit variations planned (a nectarine version is on the way). Nguyen is expanding savory offerings with bánh xèo (the “sizzling crepe”) made from turmeric, coconut milk powder, rice flour and water, poured into a hot pan to get its sizzle; while traditionally filled with seafood or ground pork and eaten with lettuce or mustard leaf and nước chấm, the shop’s nod to a bacon–egg–and–cheese sandwich folds those ingredients plus a little basil into the crepe — this version debuts the weekend of July 17. The business shifted toward Vietnamese cuisine after a late-2021 reopening (leading to Nguyen winning Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific at the 2023 James Beard Awards), wound down the tasting menu in January 2024 when he and his wife had a new baby and he “no longer wanted to be working on the line every night,” became a permanent bakery and his primary focus, then closed in October 2024 to incubate the next stage; as of June 29 the bigger, expanded version is open, the menu remains gluten-free while selectively reintroducing dairy and adding dairy as part of coffee service, and Nguyen writes, “I truly feel the experience I’ve had baking has made me a better tasting menu chef.”" - Dianne de Guzman
"Chef Vince Nguyen reopened his popular bakery after initially closing it in October 2024, bringing back signature items such as bánh khoai mì nướng and pandan bánh bò nướng and returning hits like bacon, egg, and cheese dumplings. The shop relaunched on Sunday, June 29." - Dianne de Guzman
"An acclaimed gluten- and dairy-free Vietnamese bakery run by James Beard Award–winning chef Vince Nguyen that closed its location in the former restaurant space in October 2024 and is gearing up for an anticipated reopening this spring. For Lunar New Year, Nguyen will host a pop-up at a local cafe on Sunday, February 2, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering a mix of bakery favorites and holiday-appropriate items: the popular bánh bò nướng, or honeycomb cake, in two flavors—cardamom with salted banana cream and fan-favorite pandan with salted coconut cream; bánh khoai mì nướng, a mung bean and cassava cake with caramelized pineapple in a crunchy tart shell; an egg custard tart; a flan tart topped with coconut cream and salted egg yolk; bánh hạnh nhân, an almond and cassava cookie; and a pandan waffle. Nguyen will also have their fun bánh bò nướng scratch and sniff t-shirts for sale, as well as gift cards for the bakery to give the team a little monetary boost as they ready the new shop. Nguyen says, "I’m most excited to reunite with staff and see friends that have supported us over the years," and adds, "The Lunar New Year has always been a fun time at the bakery, as we often see many new faces, so it’s fun to be part of their introduction to Southeast Asian not-too-sweets and traditional Tết dishes." - Dianne de Guzman
"I noted that Berlu Bakery will close its Southeast Belmont Street location on October 20, but James Beard Award–winning chef Vince Nguyen plans to reopen the Vietnamese bakeshop in a new, larger space." - Janey Wong
"I'll close the space that has housed multiple iterations of my Vietnamese restaurant and bakery on Sunday, October 20, but it's not a forever goodbye—I plan to reopen the bakery in a larger location to expand the menu and build more of a community relationship. Originally opened in 2019 and known for an elaborate tasting menu informed by my time at places like Noma and Castagna, Berlu flipped into a pop-up bakery and market during the pandemic where my gluten- and dairy-free Vietnamese pastries and noodle soups gained a cult following. When we reopened in late 2021 I shifted the tasting menu to reflect my Vietnamese heritage and my own diet, then at the end of 2023 I closed the tasting menu to revive Berlu Bakery; that transition let me loosen up and express a goofier side of my personality (the name comes from the French “hurluberlu,” meaning an eccentric person). I won Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific at the 2023 James Beard Awards, and with the current tiny workspace—one oven, a table, a dishwasher, a fridge, and a single rack—we're limited in what we can do and can't be the neighborhood spot I'd like to be. Until October 20 guests can line up or pre-order pastries like coffee bánh bò nuong, pandan waffles, and clove canelé through Tock, and I hope the next iteration will allow us to reach more of our potential." - Thom Hilton
