Gracie Jones

Head Baker & Proprietor

Raised in Houston, Texas, Nguyen was introduced to cooking at an early age. Her mother was constantly making cakes, pastries and cream puffs at home for the entire family. While watching her mother bake really piqued her interest in cooking, it was her Vietnamese grandmother whom she credits to introducing her to traditional Asian fare. “Her role in the family was to care and feed her 11 children and when she moved to the U.S. she assumed that same role – cooking all morning and afternoon preparing traditional Vietnamese dishes for our family,” says Nguyen. “Her okra soup with crab and pickled eggplant was my favorite! I still search for okra leaves at the market so I can recreate her recipe.”