Exploring the Sweet Delights of Pastry Chef Anna Nguyen's Happy Place
Key Highlights :
For pastry chef Anna Nguyen, there is no better place than her empty kitchen at 5 a.m., with a cup of coffee and the sweet smell of freshly baked goods. “The feeling of rotating things in and out of the oven and everything is going perfectly puts me in autopilot mode,” she said. “It’s so fun and satisfying.”
Nguyen is the owner and head chef of the popular Vietnamese restaurant sắp sửa, located in Denver, CO. She has been missing those early morning baking days while working on dinner services, but just in time for the holiday season, and after the installation of a new water heater, an essential bakery tool, Nguyen is opening The Bakehouse at sắp sửa.
The Bakehouse is inspired by Nguyen’s childhood memories of baking with her mother in her hometown of Longmont. “My mom was the ultimate mom as a little kid,” Anna said. “We’d come home from school to two loaves of sandwich bread, fresh jam sometimes, depending on the season, a couple batches of cookies, and some homemade granola. And she would do it all in one day.”
Starting November 18th, The Bakehouse, located at 2550 E. Colfax Ave., will serve an array of freshly-baked cookies, coffee cake, apple crisps, fruit tarts, homemade “Pop-Tarts,” tea cakes and more classic bakery items every Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon. Guests will be able to pop into the restaurant and order at the front bar. Prior to the opening, the bakery will be offering some Thanksgiving desserts, including pumpkin bars, turnovers, banana bread and pies.
“I’m going to be using my great grandma’s recipe for her frosted sugar cookies with sour cream and nutmeg … and not-too-sweet of frosting on top,” Anna said. “It’s very Midwestern.”
Anna’s love of baking has been with her since she was a child. While attending Colorado State University in Fort Collins, she worked part-time at Little Bird Bakeshop. She eventually dropped out of college to work at the bakery full-time before moving to California to attend the International Culinary Center, where she met her husband, Anthony. She later became a sous chef at Michelin-starred Osteria Mozza, where she mentored under chef Nancy Silverton, who has also inspired some of the recipes at The Bakehouse.
“When I was at the Little Bird, I’d be the only baker there on Sundays,” Anna said. “My parents would come in for an hour in the mornings before we opened, sit at a table in the dark, make a pot of coffee, eat their pastries, and read their newspapers before driving back to Longmont. It is one of my favorite memories, and hopefully, they can do that here, too.”
At The Bakehouse, Nguyen hopes to bring her family’s baking traditions to Denver and create a new tradition for the city. With her passion for baking and her dedication to creating the perfect treats, Anna Nguyen is sure to bring a unique and delicious experience to Denver with The Bakehouse.
