Banh Chanh
Executive Chef - Partner

She is the founder and fearless leader of Banh Chanh 99. She has over 20 years of a broad experience in the food service industry in both the United States and Australia. She has worked in Michelin rated restaurants and with specialty food retailers specializing in artisan cheese and artisan charcuterie.

Not only is she culinarily talented; she has also spent the last decade as a freelance photographer and website designer. Her photos have been published online and in print all around the world. And of course, she built our website and took all the photos.

Like many of us, she was furloughed from her job as a result of the pandemic. As such, Banh Chanh 99 was born. Her intent with creating Banh Chanh 99 is to pay homage to the Asian American food experience as well as show casing the experience from our personal culinary journeys. Which is why you will see everything ranging from traditional Vietnamese street food dishes, modern reimaginings of Southeast Asian dishes, nostalgic snacks with an Asian flair, and even artisan cheese focused snacks.

We like to keep things light-hearted and fun here at Banh Chanh 99. We’ve got a lot of fun things in the works this year. Some silly, some ridiculous, but all delicious. So thank you all for supporting us thus far, we hope you keep following along on our journey and enjoying our food.

Katie Vota
Beverage Director - Partner

Katie is a Fulbright Alumna, MFA grad, and a bartending extraordinaire. She has been behind the bar of some of Chicago’s favorite and award winning pan-Asian restaurants. Katie’s expertise in Asian flavors brilliantly compliments the sweet and savory ridiculousness coming out of the Banh Chanh 99 kitchen.

If you had some of the @snack_collective cocktails or any of the @banh_chanh_99 brunch kits you’ve had the opportunity to taste some of her work. Some of our favorites are the Tamarind Manhattan Riff, the Sesame Sochu Vesper, and the Lemongrass Sencha Gimlet.

We’re excited about what we have coming this year. We don’t want to give any secrets away, but we do have some interesting fat washed cocktails in the works.

Kaya Toast Phapos
Director of Barketing

You may have seen Kaya pop up in our social media posts from time to time; what you may not know is that since the inception of Banh Chanh 99 she has played a pivotal role as a thought partner and strategist.

After studying Barkonomics at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Kaya headed to the big city for her first job at a Barketing Consulting firm. Like many of us in early 2020, Kaya was furloughed only after a few weeks on the job. After losing her job she returned to one of her longtime hobbies and passions, food. Kaya’s expertise in Asian American flavors and her business acumen have made her a welcomed addition.

We are happy to formally share Kaya’s new role with Banh Chanh 99 as the Director of Barketing.

Fun Fact: the pop part idea was actually Kaya’s

CJ
Dishwasher - Partner

“Good Job CJ!” – Dì Sáu
“CJ is very good!” – Dì Út
“CJ is the most Vietnamese person I know; he’s more Viet than my Mom.” – Trieu
“Nói tiếng Việt giỏi quá.” – Bánh Mì Shop Lady

Spoilers CJ is not Vietnamese. But if you had some of the traditional Vietnamese dishes from @snack_collective then you had to opportunity to try his food. CJ has a strong passion for Southeast Asian food and is our resident expert in modern Vietnamese street food.

Like Kaya, CJ’s background is not in the culinary industry. CJ’s normal day job is as an Organization Change Management Consultant. When his contract was not renewed because of the pandemic, he began assisting Darlene with her culinary ventures with @snack_collective and @banh_chanh_99.

You can find CJ’s creations usually in the end of month Banh Chanh drops or in his weekly collaborations with Dar and Katie. It’s safe to say if it’s nostalgic and weird it’s probably a CJ creation.