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When Duyên Nguyễn immigrated to the United States in 2012, she found her footing working at Roji Tea Lounge in downtown Syracuse. Thirteen years later, she’s opening her very own.

“(Roji Tea) was basically like a testing place for me,” Nguyễn said. “And I want this spot to stay in everyone’s memory.”

Nguyễn is the owner of the local cafe Cake Bar, which currently has two locations in downtown Syracuse. This month, she’s expanding her business to create Tea House by Cake Bar.

She started Cake Bar in 2020 and secured her first location in Salt City Market in 2021. She opened the second location on W Genesee Street just a year later. Soon after opening the two, she realized Syracuse’s demand for more cafes that serve cultural items.

At Roji Tea, she gained cafe experience and also met her husband, who was a manager at the store. When the space became vacant in May 2024, Nguyễn quickly leased it with the idea of Tea House in mind — it was something she’d been conceptualizing for years.

“Every time me and (my husband) walked by I was like, ‘You know, if this place ever opens up, I’m gonna open a tea house for you,’” Nguyễn said. “Because he’s a big tea drinker.”

Nguyễn is from Vietnam and immigrated to Syracuse in 2012 with her family. In Vietnam, her mother owned a bakery for around 20 years, so cafes have always been a part of her identity, she said.

Vietnam has a prominent cafe culture, and it’s something Nguyễn wants to build in Syracuse. At Cake Bar, she offers a rotating seasonal menu with both basic and specialty items. She wants to offer more elaborate desserts and authentic Asian tea drinks at Tea House, inspired by Vietnamese cafe goods.

“In this space, I feel like I have more opportunity to add more of my culture’s flavors, or Asian culture into it,” Nguyễn said. “So I’m gonna separate the consumer from the really basic to the ones who want to try the new things.”

Beautifying the drinks and desserts at Tea House is part of Nguyễn’s aim to expand their social media presence. She wants the cafe to be a place locals can go to get a high-quality treat they would see on Instagram, she said. Rachel Sierz, the publicist for Tea House, emphasized the importance of marketing the brand well.

“People buy from people, people connect to people, and that’s why I’m trying to tell her story through social media as well,” Sierz said.

As a longtime fan of Cake Bar, Sierz jumped on board with Nguyễn in June to work on social media for the cafe, but also take on a publicist role for Tea House. Supporting women-owned and immigrant-owned businesses, especially those she personally loves, is important to her.

Cake Bar offers a rotating menu of basic and more intricate seasonal items. Tea House will focus more on these elaborate items, taking inspiration from Vietnamese cafe goods. Kelsey Quinn Leary | Contributing Photographer

Sierz lived in Vietnam for about five months in 2015, teaching English, and fondly recalls the 24-hour cafes. She took inspiration from them for Tea House’s branding. Nguyễn worked with brand designers from Vietnam for Cake Bar and brought them on board for Tea House too.

Tea House will be a “third space” for many people in Syracuse, Leila Gould, the store’s assistant manager, said. Since they’re planning to stay open later into the night, it will be a place people can hang out in that isn’t your typical spot, she said.

Nguyễn wants people to feel comfortable coming to Tea House when they need to take a day for themselves, and hopes people feel “at home,” she said. As an introvert, she understands that sometimes people want a change of environment to work, enjoy a treat, and not be bothered, she said.

“The vibes here, you cannot get anywhere,” Nguyễn said. “When you walk in, you already feel so relaxed, and it’s like an escape from the world.”

Nguyễn plans to specially train all staff on the details of different teas and preparation styles so they’re well-educated on what they offer to customers. All the tea they offer will be sourced directly from Asian countries like Vietnam, Japan and China.

“I want for when the customer asks for something, they know exactly what it means,” Nguyễn said.

Gould said that Cake Bar already has regular customers that she hopes will come to Tea House. Having a community of people willing to support them makes all the difference, she said.

Nguyễn hosted an event this summer celebrating Cake Bar’s five-year anniversary and promoting Tea House, where customers could create their own tea blends from loose leaf teas. Cake Bar’s success is a testament to Nguyễn’s willingness to give back to her customers, Sierz said.

“Duyên is such a kind person who really cares about the community, making people feel involved and included,” Sierz said.

That community culture goes beyond just the customers. Nguyễn’s business team and support system have shaped her experience working and starting Tea House, she said. Many staff members from Cake Bar were on board with transitioning to Tea House or working both, and it made the process much easier, she said.

When Nguyễn signed the lease for Tea House, she had recently given birth to her son. Some of her friends doubted if starting Tea House with a newborn was a good idea, which made her question herself, she said.

“But there’s people that push you like, ‘No you can do it,’” Nguyễn said. “That makes you think, ‘Okay, there’s a little spark somewhere that I know I can do it.’”

Juggling being a new mother, running two stores and opening a new one is a testament to Nguyễn’s work ethic, Gould said. Even when she’s not physically at one of the cafes, she’s always working on something, which many don’t see, she said.

Nguyễn and Gould have fostered a close friendship from working together, Gould said. Building on relationships through work is important to Nguyễn, and she hopes the work environment she’s fostered will contribute to Tea House’s success, she said.

“I know (the store) is like Duyên’s baby, but I feel responsible too,” Gould said. “That’s why I’m always willing to come here, because I really, really care about this business.”

Sierz said Tea House will be “filling a gap” in the Syracuse community as a spot for authentic Asian teas. While Cake Bar has two locations and Nguyễn can see it continuing to expand, Tea House will be the only one of its kind, she said.

“Over here I want to be the person to take care of it,” Nguyễn said. “It’s closest to my heart.”

Published on November 3, 2025 at 10:07 pm