DC’s first Asian American bakery turns into one of the top rated local businesses in the country

Rosie Nguyen the owner and chef behind Rose Avenue Bakery in Woodley Park constantly sought to be an artist Instead she became a nurse But finding a way to express her creativity continued to call to her Deep down she yearned to make more people happy So five years ago she left nursing and launched Rose Avenue Bakery first in a food hall and now in its own stand-alone store in the Woodley Park neighborhood in D C Even at a m hours before her bakery opened she was all smiles as she iced a cake and got ready for the day This is the bakery of my dreams It s combining my life and my palate as Asian American and putting it into the largest part yummy delicious fun products Nguyen reported I m just doing what I love and doing something new and just creating from the heart Majority of people associate bakeries with French-inspired dishes whether it be croissants or muffins or cakes but she was the first one in D C to take Asian flavors and mix them in I m Vietnamese and my husband s Filipino and my business partner is Filipino so we re fusing a lot of Southeast Asian flavors she mentioned That includes an ube cake which is a chiffon cake common in Asian bakeries mixed with the purple yam commonly exposed in Filipino desserts We create something that is not too sweet and pretty sweet and we come to the middle and it s just right Nguyen announced She describes it as a bridge between Asian and American baking We re doing things that are familiar but quite different she explained The diversity of the D C region where so plenty of people have come from plenty of different backgrounds has helped Rose Avenue take off since Now we see more Asian-inspired pastries from small businesses from people doing markets Nguyen declared We re seeing that more and it s becoming really very trendy Related stories Baking Connections How DC is fueling the craze for pastries with an Asian twist As DC reimagines Chinatown Falls Church restaurant has been drawing diners from around the globe for decades The guzheng strikes a resonant chord in DC region for traditional modern music fans He needed to become a history trainer Instead Peter Chang made Chinese cuisine history in the DC region That doesn t mean it s easy Nguyen admitted she puts pressure on herself to deliver the best baked goods she can While she s uncovered fancy gadgets and machines lack the same delicate touch that human hands do she explained one of the hardest parts is when she can t make food for people either because they ve run out or they re closed I hate that people come to the door and I m working and we re closed that day and I come out and I talk to them and I apologize but they re just like we came from so far Nguyen disclosed So I hate that I make people disappointed I didn t really think about that when I opened up this business She also cited the times someone has bought the last product on the stand and a customer right behind them was going to order the same thing We do a lot of apologizing she admitted with a laugh But it isn t hurting her popularity In the past few days Yelp listed Rose Avenue Bakery in its top local businesses not just for the D C region but for the entire country It was one of only four food-related businesses east of the Mississippi River to make the list This is where I belong and I feel that I m doing something worthwhile she reported Totally worth it Source