Husband-and-wife duo Daniel Nguyen and Katherine Lam have an important rule in their household: “We remind each other not to bring work home,” Lam said.
Nguyen and Lam are childhood sweethearts, having known each other since they were 13 years old. The couple dated all throughout college, later married and are now the parents of two teenagers.
Their partnership transcends their personal relationship. The couple co-founded Bambuza Hospitality Group in 2003 and are franchisees of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and acai bowl brand Sambazon. Their portfolio includes their own concepts, Bambuza Vietnam Kitchen, artisan sandwich and salad concept Ninth and Pike, and Embarque Whiskey Grill.
Lam is CEO and president, while Nguyen holds the role of chief operating officer.
“We are two very different individuals. Daniel has a set of gifts that I don’t have and I vice versa,” Lam said. “The key is really the trust among the two of us between our relationship when we work together … We are each other’s sounding boards, and that’s been very beneficial to our growth and also to our benefit for the company.”
Bambuza has built its business largely in airports, with restaurants located at five airports across four states. Growth in this nontraditional segment has been incredibly strategic, Nguyen said, as consistent traffic builds consumer interest and helps launch Bambuza’s brands into the mainstream.
“Airports are this unique environment where there are so many eyes on your brand,” he added. “With our own growth with Bambuza, we’ve seen that there’s nowhere else on the street where you’re able to literally get millions of passengers walking by your storefront. There’s no other place on the street that has that kind of high concentration of foot traffic.”
The company is enshrined in personal touches that honor the couple’s rich history with food. Its name pays homage to the bamboo plant. Bamboo represents community, integrity and stewardship in Vietnamese culture, according to the company website.
Lam’s early childhood was spent in Vietnam, and Nguyen’s family moved from Vietnam to the Pacific Northwest in 1975. Nguyen’s mom ran a small restaurant out of Camas, Washington. “As long as I can remember, my mom and dad have always had a restaurant or food stand growing up, and we spent many hours, many days, many years in the kitchen of a restaurant,” he said.
Bambuza has expansion goals in the near future. The company plans to have 13 locations, excluding joint venture partnerships, among its brand portfolio by the end of this year and is developing a new concept, Connections Gourmet Market.
The latest creation hones in on Asian-inspired markets, highlighting Asian American entrepreneurs, winemakers and food makers. “It’s featuring and really drawing on the richness of the Asian American contributions to the food and beverage scene here in the Northwest,” Nguyen said.
Connections will open in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in spring of next year.
As Bambuza continues to see growth, Lam highlighted the importance of being able to adapt, pivot and develop when scaling up its brands.
“We are leading the industry of Vietnamese cuisine,” she said, “and we are intentional in developing our brand awareness and our products because we want to bring our cuisine and brand national in the future.”
Outside of Bambuza, Nguyen and Lam find additional ways to invest in their community. Nguyen is an Oregon State representative and chair of the House Committee on Economic Development, Small Business and Trade. Lam is a commissioner and treasurer for the Port of Portland’s Board of Commissioners.
“Although we’re known as Mrs. Bambuza and Mr. Bambuza, that’s not all we are,” Nguyen said. “I think we were very proud to be able to show that we’re active in the business community, but we’re also active in our communities in general.”
Nguyen and Lam continue to be recognized for their business and community accomplishments. Last year they were inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame, the first Oregonians to receive the honor.
“Giving back through public service and through civic engagement is something I think a lot about, being that both of us are children of immigrants,” Nguyen noted. “We’ve been awarded this tremendous opportunity, and there’s never a way that we can pay back the debt that we owe to so many people that’ve allowed us to be able to come here and achieve what we’ve done. We can only pay it forward.”