By Jasmine Whiting

The aroma of fresh-baked bread and roasted meats fills the air at the Seattle Roll Bakery. Owner Hop Nguyen, dusting flour from her hands, emerges from the kitchen smiling broadly. In this narrow White Center bakery nestled between a seafood grill and tax refund center, up to 5,000 rolls of authentic Vietnamese bánh mì baguettes are baked daily.

Beyond the simple plastic signage and sparse décor, there's a bustling energy in the bakery as Hop's jovial mother unloads bread from cooling racks scattered about the tiny shop. Appointments and memos pepper a worn calendar nailed to the wall.

A typical day in The Seattle Roll Bakery begins at night, when Hop's father prepares the dough. At 1 a.m., her brother comes in to do the baking, followed by her mother at 4 a.m. to package the bánh mì, which Hop delivers after taking her children to school.

In the early days of the Seattle Roll Bakery, Hop and her husband worked two jobs on top of cleaning office buildings to make ends meet. Success has come with hard work from the entire family- Hop's parents, siblings and husband all pitch in to operate the business.

Baking is a family tradition for Hop. In the 1950's, her father owned a bakery in Vietnam during the French occupation where he learned the intricacies of crafting the perfect bánh mì, commonly known in the U.S. as a Vietnamese sandwich. “Bánh” is Vietnamese for biscuit and “mì,” flour. When toasted to a golden brown, the crisp exterior of these slender demi-baguettes hide a delicate interior. As a sandwich, the soft rolls are a fusion of flavors- French pâté and mayonnaise topped with Vietnamese pickled vegetables and cilantro.

As war embroiled the country in the late 1960's, Hop's father fought alongside the United States. In 1992, an American program for Vietnamese soldiers sponsored him to bring the family to America. Once here, he turned to what he knew best: bánh mì. Hop was twelve years old when the family arrived in Seattle and opened a small restaurant.

“We always knew it would be a bakery,” Hop says of the family's venture in the restaurant business, “We just needed to save for the equipment.” Opening a small business as an immigrant was difficult, but Hop was a tenacious businesswoman. She and her husband, a former manager of two Seattle-area bakeries, established the shop in 2004 with no outside aid.

“The money, taxes, payroll, everything I did on my own. At first it was hard.” But with a business management course from South Seattle Community College, Hop and her family were able to make the business thrive. Initially, Hop and her husband made wholesale deliveries in an old Honda Civic purchased from a friend for $250. “The car made so much noise,” Hop laughs, breaking into a bashful smile, “everyone knew it was us when we drove down the street.” While Hop still personally makes all her deliveries, they have since upgraded to a sleeker delivery van for their numerous customers.

Today, bánh mì from The Seattle Roll Bakery can be found in markets and restaurants across Seattle. Several Vietnamese phở noodle shops and restaurants selling Mexican-style sandwiches all depend on the bakery's bánh mì. Microsoft has even ordered Hop's bánh mì sandwiches for lunch meetings. Each day the bread emerges from the ovens at 1:30 in the morning, and the first sandwiches are prepared by 6:30.

Despite being too compact for dine-in seating, the bakery sells around 150 sandwiches daily to retail customers, attracting a diverse following. “Not only Vietnamese but also Mexicans and Americans buy our sandwiches,” Hop explained, “Recently, some police officers came into our shop. We didn't know why and were a little nervous. Turns out they wanted a sandwich! Now they often come back for the barbecue bánh mì.”

Hop's eyes sparkle as she discusses the shop's growing customer base.

“Lake City, Olympia, Northgate, Tacoma,” Hop lists off the top of her head, “One customer comes all the way from Everett just for our teriyaki chicken sandwich!” “It's for everybody,” she enthuses about her bánh mì, “I love to explain why our breads taste different from other companies. We're unique. Our bread is authentic like you'd find in France; we don't use any preservatives. When you eat it fresh, it is the best!” While Vietnamese diners prefer the ham combo with Vietnamese special sauce, the barbecue sandwich is most popular with Americans. From his experience in Vietnam, Hop's father crafted a barbecue sandwich of lemongrass, five spices, roasted sesame seeds and Vietnamese special sauce to better suit Western palates. What's in the special sauce? “I can't tell you!” Hop laughs.

While Hop is guarded about the family's sauce recipe, she's more than willing to discuss the challenges of being an immigrant small business owner in White Center. Her parent's lack of English skills were an initial hurdle in managing tax and inspection procedures, but Hop fluently explains that business is much easier in the States. Instead of the coal-fired wood ovens used in Vietnam, she has access to more efficient and environmentally friendly gas ovens, radically increasing output. Despite the recent global economic downturn, Hop remains hopeful. “We felt it,” she reflects with a soft-spoken confidence, “People don't want to spend money but they want to eat bread.” She attributes the bakery's competitive prices (just 40 cents per roll retail, $2.50 for a bánh mì sandwich) to the family's dedication and long hours.

Hop's oldest daughter can often be found frolicking around the bakery. At six years old, she enjoys playing with dough. “She will probably continue the business,” Hop muses, but there are no plans to expand the shop. “We can remodel, but we can't move the ovens. Our culture believes that if we move the ovens, the luck won't move with us.” In addition to donating leftover bread at the end of the day to the family's local temple, a small shrine is erected in the bakery where incense is burned each day to honor important deities and pray for continuing luck. The perfume of jasmine incense mingling with the scent of oven-fresh bánh mì gives customers an authentic Vietnamese experience right in their backyards.