The History of Dong Phuong
Sitting down with Huong Tran, the matriarch and co-founder of Dong Phuong Bakery, at a picnic table in the bakery’s break room to hear the bakery’s history firsthand is a food writer’s dream.
Her daughter Linh Tran Garza, who manages the books, was there to translate some of the longer memories and more unique Vietnamese phrases.
Mrs. Tran and her husband De Tran founded the bakery as we know it in 1982. Like many Asian American businesses, Dong Phuong is the direct product of immigration and adaptability.
Mrs. Tran grew up in Soc Trang, six hours south of Saigon. “We had a family bakery in Vietnam. It was crazy busy—a lot of work. I grew up in that environment. Seeing my parents run it, I did not want to [do it]. I studied hard in school, and I wanted to work somewhere I could wear nice dresses, like a bank. I did learn, by watching, by doing, and, outside of study time, I liked to help. But running my own bakery was never the plan.”…