By Nina Huang
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
What began as an online cookie business is becoming something much bigger.
Inside a former barber shop that sat vacant for years in Japantown in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (CID), Anh Ơi Bakery is attempting an unconventional experiment: a rotating bakery collective centered on Asian American stories, flavors, and community.
The bakery soft-opened May 15, with a grand opening planned for May 23.
Creating a new space for the Asian baker community and those with a sweet tooth
For owner Vince Vu, the vision was never simply about opening another bakery storefront.
“My goal was not to have a brick-and-mortar,” he said with a laugh. “I really wanted to be a home baker.”
Instead, Anh Ơi evolved organically—from online cookie orders fulfilled out of a commissary kitchen to a temporary retail residency through Seattle Restored.
Seattle Restored is a city-supported program that helps small businesses, artists, and entrepreneurs activate vacant storefronts across Seattle through short-term leases and affordable retail opportunities. Launched during the pandemic to support neighborhood recovery, the initiative connects emerging local businesses with commercial spaces while helping to revitalize business districts and increase foot traffic.
The shop functions as both bakery and incubator space, featuring rotating Asian American bakers, coffee pop-ups, and shelf-stable goods.
Cultural inspirations
Vu’s goal is to highlight other Asian and Asian American bakers.
“I want people who have a point of view and who tell their story through baking.”
The bakery’s name itself reflects that sense of intimacy and care. “Anh ơi” is a Vietnamese phrase loosely meaning “hey you,” often used affectionately for someone close—a sibling, partner, or friend.
Vu, whose parents came to the United States as refugees from Vietnam, grew up between cultures. His family ran restaurants, bridal shops, photography studios, and Vietnamese radio programs, while he pursued a more traditional professional path in public policy and tech.
After earning degrees in Texas and Minnesota, Vu moved to Seattle in 2017 for a job with King County under then-Executive Dow Constantine. But even while working white-collar jobs, he kept returning to kitchens.
“I have worked at bakeries and restaurants since I was 14,” Vu said. “I think I felt a deep unfulfillment in my white-collar jobs.”
A few years ago, after leaving corporate work, Vu leaned fully into baking. He previously co-founded Lefty’s Righteous Bagels in Chicago before returning to Seattle, which he still considers home.
“With Anh Ơi, this was my attempt to be as Vietnamese as possible through a format I was familiar with,” he said.
That philosophy shows up clearly in the bakery’s menu. Vu’s bestselling fried banana cookie was also the first cookie he ever developed.
Photo provided by Cindy Yeung
“It’s the most Vietnamese thing I make,” he said proudly. “The fact that my most Vietnamese cookie became the bestseller—that’s the whole reason I started the bakery.”
But Vu says the bakery’s larger mission is collective rather than individual.
“When you’re doing pop-ups or farmers markets, it can sometimes feel competitive,” he said. “What if we flipped it on its head? What if we were all here together?”
He pauses before summing up his vision.
“If anyone remembers my bakery for anything, I want it to be remembered as the bakery version of The Block.”
That collaborative spirit is already visible on Anh Ơi’s shelves. Each featured baker has a plaque with a description detailing their story behind their baked goods.
Recreating tasteful memories
Among the rotating vendors is Chi Bakery, founded by Taiwan native Ariel Shao, who began baking during the pandemic after moving to Seattle in 2021.
“I missed the desserts and flavors I had in Taiwan,” Shao said. “So I started trying to recreate them from scratch.”
Unable to work because of visa restrictions at the time, Shao taught herself through YouTube videos and food blogs. What began as homesickness gradually became an online business.
Now, Chi Bakery is known for Taiwanese-inspired pastries, including delicate canelés and crystal panna cotta taro cakes.
“She captures the essence perfectly,” Vu said of Shao’s baking. “Her canelés are less sweet, more custardy, really balanced.”
For Shao, the residency offers a rare opportunity to share deeply personal flavors with a broader audience while balancing family life and raising her 3-year-old son.
“I feel really honored that more and more people can see and taste my products,” she said.
Another featured baker, Jhomarie Sadang of Akio’s Bakery, also traces her business back to a moment of longing abroad.
After tasting cream puffs during a trip to Japan, Sadang returned home unable to find anything similar locally.
She decided to try making it herself.
Self-taught at first, Sadang eventually transitioned from banking and medical insurance work into baking full-time. She later worked at Hood Famous and Pastry Mitten before building wholesale partnerships with Uwajimaya and Maruta Shoten.
Today, Akio’s Bakery specializes in Japanese-inspired baked goods, including shokupan milk bread, buns, and cream puffs.
Although Sadang once dreamed of opening her own storefront, her perspective shifted after years in the industry.
“I love the aspect of community and shared space,” she said. “We want to find a middle ground.”
Capturing new audiences through desserts
Another baker featured at Anh Ơi is Cindy Yeung, whose business focuses on Asian-inspired sweets designed for both everyday snacking and special occasions.
Photo provided by Cindy Yeung
Yeung originally built her business around custom cakes and weddings, hoping to bring more Asian flavors and artistry into celebratory desserts. But joining Anh Ơi introduced her to a different kind of audience.
“Retail wasn’t really in my plan until Vince reached out,” Yeung said. “Through this, I get to reach a lot more people and share my sweets with them.”
Her lineup at Anh Ơi includes Taiwanese-inspired snowflake crisps in flavors like matcha strawberry and black sesame, hojicha granola, mooncakes with shortbread crusts, and a pineapple bun-inspired cookie topped with salted egg yolk.
Photo provided by Cindy Yeung
“I love seeing people try it and their reactions,” she said. “They love all the different textures and flavors.”
Vu first connected with Yeung after visiting one of her Lunar New Year pop-ups and purchasing her baked goods himself. Later, he invited her to join Anh Ơi’s rotating collective.
“She’s exactly the kind of baker I want in the space,” Vu said. “People who are making food tied to memory and culture.”
For Yeung, the residency has become an opportunity not only to showcase her creations, but to participate in something larger than a traditional retail setup.
“He asked if I wanted to be part of something grand and meaningful,” she said. “And I was really excited by that.”
Brewing up something authentic
That same motivation drew coffee vendor Aufe Coffee into the project.
Founded by husband-and-wife team Tran and Nhat Phan, Aufe focuses on Vietnamese robusta coffee beans—an often overlooked part of Southeast Asia’s coffee industry.
“Vietnam is one of the top exporters of coffee beans in the world, but most people don’t know that,” Tran said. “We want to change the perception of robusta.”
The couple, both formerly in tech, launched the business after repeated layoffs forced them to rethink their careers.
At one point, they had to pull from their savings, and decided to take a leap of faith on pursuing this coffee business.
Their drinks, including a lychee cold brew and a signature drink called “Cloudy,” reinterpret traditional Vietnamese coffee flavors through a more modern specialty coffee lens.
“When you sip Cloudy, you feel soft and foamy,” Tran said. “We wanted to elevate the café sữa experience.”
Showcasing cultural and creative flavors to the community
For many of the bakers involved, Anh Ơi offers something increasingly rare in Seattle’s food landscape: a lower-risk way to test ideas, experiment creatively, and build community without immediately taking on the enormous burden of a permanent storefront.
The lineup of bakers will continue rotating every few weeks, depending on each vendor’s capacity and availability.
Jackie Peterson and Laura Brooks attended the soft opening because they were big fans of Vince’s baked goods after discovering him on social media.
“I just love, love, love Vince’s cookies. The flavors are so unique and really special. Knowing his story and the love and care that he puts into his work, and the fact that he’s so much about embracing people and uplifting people in the community—I think that’s so needed, and I was really excited to support a new space,” Peterson said.
The bakery is also an opportunity to showcase different flavors to the community.
Peterson shared that while she bought almost one of everything, she’s very excited to try mooncakes for the first time.
“I want people to come in and always see something new,” he said. “New faces, old faces returning—it should always feel alive.”
At its core, he says, Anh Ơi is less about any one baker and more about creating a shared home for Asian American creativity.
“We can all uplift each other,” Vu said. “That’s the whole point.”
Nina can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.
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