Dong Phuong Oriental Bakery facts for kids
Dong Phuong Oriental Bakery is a famous Vietnamese bakery and restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana. Its name, "Đông Phương," means "The Orient" in Vietnamese.
This popular spot is well-known for its special baguette-style bread. Many restaurants in New Orleans use this bread for their banh mi sandwiches. Dong Phuong also has its own busy counter where you can buy these delicious sandwiches.
The bakery has been a key part of the Vietnamese community in New Orleans for a long time. It even survived Hurricane Katrina. You can find Dong Phuong at 14207 Chef Menteur Highway in a part of Eastern New Orleans called "Little Vietnam." Next to the bakery, there is a restaurant that serves many Vietnamese and Chinese dishes. These include popular foods like phở, bún thịt nướng, and bún riêu.
Contents
History of Dong Phuong
How Dong Phuong Started
De and Huong Tran, who were immigrants from Vietnam, opened Dong Phuong in 1981. Huong learned how to bake pastries from her father's bakery back in Vietnam. De joined her to help create his favorite foods from his childhood.
Awards and Recognition
In 2018, Dong Phuong received a special award from the James Beard Foundation. This award is called "America's Classic." It honors restaurants that have a timeless appeal and are loved by their local communities. Other famous New Orleans places like Mosca's and Willie Mae's Scotch House have also won this award.
Dong Phuong's Role in Food
The Famous Banh Mi Sandwiches
Dong Phuong's banh mi sandwiches are very popular. People often call them Vietnamese po-boys, which are another famous type of sandwich in New Orleans. The bakery is so important that some people compare it to Leidenheimer Baking Company. That company makes bread for many of New Orleans' traditional po-boys. Dong Phuong supplies bread to many places that make banh mi.
Vietnamese Food in New Orleans
Dong Phuong, along with other Vietnamese restaurants like Phở Tàu Bay and Kim Sơn, has helped make Vietnamese food very popular in New Orleans. These eateries have successfully made Vietnamese dishes a big part of the city's food culture. Many people, even those without a direct connection to Vietnam, love these foods.
A New York Times Magazine article once said that Dong Phuong makes some of the best banh mi in the U.S. Another New York Times article from 2010 noted that most banh mi in New Orleans use bread from Dong Phuong. It even called eating a banh mi at Dong Phuong "one of the signal pleasures of the American South." The bakery offers about 16 different kinds of banh mi sandwiches.
The Dong Phuong restaurant is also a favorite of writer Poppy Z. Brite. It is even mentioned in his novel "Lost Souls".
What Dong Phuong Offers
Dong Phuong has a wide variety of baked goods, including many types of bánh (Vietnamese cakes and pastries). You can buy sandwiches to go from their counter. The business also has a full restaurant right next door in the same building. Dong Phuong also offers catering services and ships its products wholesale across the U.S.
