The mind behind it all
Hi everyone, I'm Hai, I'm Vietnamese.
Never have I thought of opening a bakery, let alone being in charge of everything, from creating new recipes, producing, running ads, taking photos to making coffee, waitering and selling my own products. I have been in France for about 4 years studying Hospitality and Restauration, but I have always been fascinated with kitchen work. To be behind a restaurant's success have always been a dream of mine, so I applied to work in the kitchen of a 5* Hotel, where I've learned to perfect a dish from start to finish.
My first birthday in France I received a pastry cook book from my amazing teachers Fabio, Nence & Sarah which I still kept to this very day. I took its insights to creating my own recipes and little by little, the dream to become a pastry chef and having my own bakery shop grew. By then I have had over 100 recipes that I'd like to present and as much as it's difficult to build something from the ground up, I know this has to be something I need to do on my own.
The smell of freshly baked pastries relieved me
“I got an inspiration from a café I liked when I was studying in France.”
I love the coffee shop culture there, with views across the streets where you can see people go on and about with their daily lives, several outdoor areas decorated with green and the complimentary smell of their pastries being reheated in the oven. Going to a coffee shop in France to me feels like any ordinary day, not an absolute extravagant experience. Coming back to Vietnam, I felt the need to recreate a space that is dear to me. So Local is a name I have given to this cafe because I do wish to offer good quality coffee and pastries to locals and hopefully, we are where they would go to on their daily basis.
When I first opened Local Bread, it has around 1.000 followers on Facebook and 500 on Instagram, no walk-in customers. Like any new businesses, I struggled finding my own stance in the market.
I quitted for a while due to Covid-19, but as soon as Covid-19 dwindled in 2022, I started preparing for my re-launch. I felt as if we were lucky because we had previous preparations, when the crowds are "stuck at home" due to Covid and needed a place to go out. So even when we first opened, with all tables booked and guests lining up to buy our pastries, I never once felt accomplished and thought it was just luck.
Until one day, a client said to me: "I love your pastry, this is my go to place"
That along with familiar faces returning to our store a couple of days after our opening, I, for the first time felt a sense of completion.
The place now is no longer brand new as it was when it first launched, but if this is still what locals prefer to come, then I will strive harder everyday to make it feel like a place where everyone feels warmly welcomed as it should be.
