Born From Nostalgia, Fueled by Innovation
Natalie's Sugarcane & Dessert Brings Fresh, Vietnamese Street Food and Boba Bliss to Seattle Southside
Vietnamese cuisine may be widely known for its sweet and salty coffees, savory pho, and tender bahn mi, but one of its most popular dishes and drinks aren't commonly seen in the U.S.
Among these is fresh-pressed sugarcane juice, a sweet, refreshing drink perfect for cooling off in the hot tropical heat.
“Almost any restaurant meal we have back in Vietnam, we’re having a fresh-pressed sugarcane juice to complement it,” says Vinny Le, one of the managers at Natalie’s Sugarcane & Desserts in Tukwila and Natalie’s on Alki in West Seattle, both of which are named after Le’s mother, Natalie Vinh.
Vinh came up with the idea for the business while on a trip to California around 2020. She happened to see sugarcane juice at a cafe and was instantly transported back to her childhood. It was a lightbulb moment for her. Why couldn’t they have that back in the Seattle area, where she lived?
Not long after, in 2020, Vinh opened Natalie’s Sugarcane & Desserts, calling in Le, and his wife, Ellie Parker, to help run it. Although Vinh had extensive experience in the restaurant industry, this project would be her own, and she would serve sugarcane juice alongside other lesser-known street foods. On top of that, the menu would feature a variety of boba and fresh toppings. Located inside Lam’s Seafood Asian Market, a popular grocery specializing in imported Southeast Asian goods, the business quickly gained a reputation for its unique menu and fresh ingredients, including sugarcane imported directly from Vietnam. The shop was so successful that in 2021, just a year after launching, the family opened the West Seattle location.
The menu at Natalie’s is nostalgic for Le as well. While he was raised in the Greater Seattle Area, he spent childhood summers at his grandparents' in Vietnam, where he’d pass hours playing with the neighborhood kids in the streets. “We’d all come outside, we’d play this hopscotch with flip flops kind of deal," he recalls. "It was super fun."
When they got hungry, all they’d have to do is turn to one of the many food carts around them and buy sugarcane juice and rice paper salad, which is also on the menu at Natalie’s.
Vinh’s ambitions don’t stop at recreating nostalgic dishes, though. To master the art of tea-making, she studied in Taiwan, the heart of bubble tea culture. Every year, she travels throughout Asia to learn about the latest trends in boba, coming back bursting with new ideas. Le and Parker are her first taste testers.
“I always have my family try new things,” says Vinh.
Some of the menu items might surprise those newer to Vietnamese cuisine and thrill adventurous foodies. For instance, you can order your bubble tea with durian, a fruit so potent smelling that it’s banned on public transport in some places. (We tried it, and it is certainly a memorable taste).
Running Natalie’s is not a hands-off job. In addition to managing, Park, Le, and Vinh all work in the shops themselves on occasion, making and serving tea alongside their employees. Parker and Le both studied business in college, and bring their financial and marketing acumen to the venture. Though they may have the occasional professional disagreement, the camaraderie and respect between the three relatives is palpable. Equally central to Natalie's success is the family’s deep roots in the local Vietnamese community. Most of their vendors are Vietnamese-owned companies, and Parker says they run into people all the time that Vinh and Le know. At the same time, the decision to also focus on bubble tea has made Natalie’s accessible to a wider audience, especially as the beverage has exploded in popularity.
“Boba is kind of the gateway, so people will try it and then try these less well-known Vietnamese street foods,” says Parker.
For Vinh, running her own business has been nothing but gratifying.
“When I go to work, that’s my happy place,” she says. “When I see customers enjoy their drinks…share with their friends, it just makes me feel so good.”
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