Càphê Roasters launches a pastry program celebrating Asian American flavors

Since Càphê Roasters opened in Kensington in 2021, it has been an epicenter of Asian American flavors, from its robust Vietnamese coffee drinks to assembling some of Philly’s most beloved banh mis and soul-warming rice porridges. It was at the forefront of the local matcha movement and has hosted many pop-up bakers, such as those peddling mooncakes around Mid-Autumn Festival.

But Càphê Roasters has never really had a pastry program. On the cusp of expanding into South Philly, it’s finally launching one.

“Our chefs would test out some desserts, but then just not have the time to continue researching and developing them,” said CEO and co-founder Thu Pham, 33. “And they also didn’t have pastry background. It takes time and talent, but also hunger.”

Pham found both those qualities in pastry chef Zoe DeLay, 23, who moved to Philly from St. Louis to work at the now-closed Fleur’s as George Sabatino’s sous chef and head pastry chef.

“We struggled with getting a dessert on the menu that incorporated our espresso beans really well. But Zoe came up with cà phê sữa brownies that have been a major hit, and they’re very different from any other brownie in town,” said Pham.

DeLay’s brownie creations are fudge-like without being dense, generously dusted with flaky sea salt and infused with the deep, robust fragrance of Vietnamese coffee. It mirrors Càphê Roasters’ cà phê sữa in dessert form. Rich, nuanced, precise, and most importantly, not too sweet. They’re now selling about 60 cà phê sữa brownies every weekend (as many as DeLay can make in Càphê Roasters’ current kitchen).

“Balancing pastry is so important because my least favorite thing is to bite into a pastry and think, ‘Oh my God, that is so sweet,’” said DeLay. “But flavors like black sesame [and coffee] add depth and personality.”

DeLay is also workshopping a kabocha squash cheesecake with a gingersnap brown butter crust, a sweet interpretation of the squash porridge that has been a staple of Càphê Roasters’ fall and winter menus. Along with the brownie and a savory pastry stuffed with kimchi jjigae that hearkens to DeLay’s Korean American upbringing, the cheesecake will soon be found during the week at Càphê Roasters in Kensington and at the cafe’s new location in South Philly.

DeLay’s kimchi jjigae hand pie takes a classic Korean stew and stuffs it into a pastry. “I braise pork shoulder like carnitas with all the traditional kimchi, onions, gochujang, then add green onion and white cheddar,” said DeLay. She is also working on developing American classics like muffins and yeasted breads, “but adding some of my own personality to them.”

Her yuzu honey cake, the base of a dessert with black sesame brittle, has echoes of cornbread, a nod to DeLay’s Midwest upbringing. “I wanted to bring in the multiple aspects of my identity into a cake,” she said. She’s playing with ingredients like Korean konggaru (soybean powder) in making sweet creams for pies. “They feel really nostalgic, but also like they haven’t existed yet.”

Incorporating DeLay into the fold has meant that Pham and her beverage team can tell more widely inclusive stories through food. “As long as she incorporates some Southeast Asian and, for her, Korean-inspired pastries onto the menu, I’m happy,” said Pham.

An exploration of nostalgic flavors that speak to Asian American third-culture kids are happening all over Philly and the rest of the country. Small bakeries and restaurant pastry programs dedicated to celebrating ingredients like matcha, kimchi, ube, pandan, black sesame, and banana milk in never-before-seen ways are cropping up continually, in many different neighborhoods. Seaforest Bakeshop in Graduate Hospital has a similar approach, as do Manong in Fairmount’s new pastry offerings, which have now gone far beyond bibingka waffles.

With Càphê Roasters’ expansion, “We’ll be able to have a pastry program in all our locations, but keep welcoming in pop-up bakers,” said Pham.

“What I love most about pastry is being able to recreate sensory memories through food,” said DeLay. “And maybe become part of what one day will be their own nostalgia.”