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December 7, 2012 10:05:46 AM PST

By Steve Dolinsky

December 7, 2012 (CHICAGO) --

Lotus Cafe owner Kim Dao keeps her menu compact and authentic, with Vietnamese classics like banh mi, a sandwich, and goi cuon, fresh spring rolls.

The classic Vietnamese sandwich banh mi has its roots in France -- with its bread, but the fillings are Asian.

Located on UIC's campus, Lotus Restaurant's banh mi is as good as any found in Uptown. The UIC marketplace caters to students with inexpensive and relatively quick food. Both bases covered at the new Lotus Cafe. Hidden on the sandwich menu - which has plenty of tempting options - is one of the best Vietnamese spring rolls in Chicago.

There aren't a ton of great ethnic restaurants in the University Village Marketplace on UIC's campus, but Lotus is a game-changer. Kim Dao is a recent graduate of UIC, and saw an opportunity in the area for a Vietnamese staple

"Just a few things but we want to make it the best. Compact menu and authentic," said Dao, Lotus' co-owner.

They focus on banh mi, the sandwich that is to Vietnam, what an Italian beef is to Chicago. They start with Biondillo bread, tearing out just a little bit of the inside, to ensure a good ratio of filling-to-starch. They then lightly toast them. While the bread is toasting, fillings are cooked; in the case of the "Belly Classic" - which features homemade pork terrine, head cheese and sausage, some elements are cooked.

"I think what set us aside is that we cook the meat to order and I think that give it a nice flavor, more fresh," she said.

Then it's time for toppings, like crunchy, vibrant pickled daikon radish flecked with shredded carrots, a dash of seasoned soy sauce plus fresh strips of cucumber, a few sliced jalapeños and long sprigs of fr‍‍‍esh cilantro.

Another sandwich close to Dao's heart is the Sunny Side Beef, which really started out as a childhood snack.

"For sunny side beef, it's actually a dish that I eat at home, with my parents on rice. And then they add fries to it with the beef, and I always like eggs so I put that on top; it's a nice combination," said Dao.

It's not all sandwiches here. A few salads round out the menu, including a vegan one, featuring shredded papaya, crispy rice cakes, carrots and cilantro.

"The vegan papaya salad is a popular dish in Vietnam and I used to eat it when I was a kid," she said.

The biggest surprise comes in the form of the goi cuon, or fresh spring rolls. Plump shrimp and boiled vermicelli noodles are wrapped up in pliable rice paper wrappers with crispy shallots and bits of mint. A mild, pineapple and peanut dipping sauce is also remarkable.

"We roll it to order, instead of pre-package it and leave in the fridge. So that way it's more fresh," said Dao.

You can certainly take the sandwiches to go, but i would recommend eating them in the cafe, since the bread is toasted and the fillings are cooked-to-order, they'll taste better the sooner they're consumed.

Lotus Cafe & Banh Mi Sandwiches
719 W. Maxwell St.
(312) 733-7595
lotusbanhmi.com

Entrepreneurial husband, wife find their niche by UIC

Dao Nguyen, ’11 ENG, and Ngan “Kim” Dao, ’11 AHS, ’11 LAS, don’t wear wedding rings—“food gets into the crevices,” Dao says. But no one would doubt the strength of their relationship. Together, the parents of two serve up fresh spring rolls and toasted Vietnamese sandwiches to UIC students and staff at Lotus Café and Banh Mi.‍‍‍

The couple opened their University Village café in September 2012, got married in 2013 and launched a second, cafeteria-style location in UIC Student Center West in 2014.

How did you develop your menu?
Nguyen: We combined components of different recipes—you could call it fusion, but most of it is authentic. For example, Sunny Side Beef—in Vietnam, we would keep the meat and onion separated, then dip the bread with the egg; here, we package it differently, in sandwich form, so it’s more convenient.

Dao: In my nutrition classes, we would tweak a recipe to change the texture or flavor. When I test my recipes, I use that process—if you change one ingredient, what happens? It’s like a science project.

To what do you attribute your success?
Nguyen: Sacrifice, hard work and the willingness to adapt quickly. If people don’t like something—even if you know it tastes good—you have to be willing to cut it and not sell it. It’s those things you don’t actually see, like the way we make our radishes. Before, we had to hand-peel and shred 400-500 pounds a week. So we bought a julienne machine and a peeler. That’s cut 15 hours of staff time a week.

How do you work together?
Nguyen: We respect each other’s abilities. I never question her cooking or decisions on new menu items. I’m the one who handles logistical issues, numbers, price structure and inventory.

Dao: It kind of fits into the degrees we pursued.

Nguyen: We always thought we were similar, but with this business, we realized we are so different—in a good way. She knew what I didn’t, and I knew what she didn’t, and it made us stronger.

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Featured on Today we’d like to introduce you to Dao Nguyen.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.

Entering our junior year in college, we were left with the dilemma of continuing to follow through with our academic pursuit and journey down a safe albeit mundane path, or adventure into the unknown and vulnerable arena of creating and running our own business. We chose the latter, obviously, but not before completing our degrees, handing it to our parents, and never looking back. In those final two years, while both working and attending class full-time, we spent our nights researching and developing the food menu. Much of the basis of the menu were based on traditional recipes Kim and I grew up on. The challenge was to make it palatable to unfamiliar taste buds, while also retaining the authenticity of the recipes, all in a convenient to eat form.To say we’ve made some mistakes along the way would be an understatement. The entire two years spent on R&D were basically scrapped and improvised within the first week of opening. We simply did not know what we were doing, but we worked tirelessly trying to fix a sinking ship. Every single day, we discussed what were the biggest mistakes, and focused intently on addressing those issues.I truly believe that it was that drive to endlessly improve, tirelessly innovate, and shamelessly admit our faults that led us to where we are today.

Has it been a smooth road?

Running any business is difficult, but owning a restaurant is probably the hardest among them. Although the list can be exhaustive, for us, the biggest challenges were employee management and workflow. We realized early on that regardless of how many customers we serve a day, we could not make money unless we had an efficient workflow. That meant having to constantly streamline our process, review vendors and make purchases accordingly. The right employees will return more than their worth in gold, but the challenge is to find those employees, and harder yet, to figure out how to retain them on a tight profit margin.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Lotus Cafe & Banh Mi Sandwiches – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.

We are a Vietnamese restaurant specializing in delivering healthy cooked to order food, quickly and conveniently. We stand apart not only because of the quality of the food, but the ability to deliver that promise consistently, and with the best customer service possible. Customers come back because we treat them like family, and they know that we’ll always be there for anything they need.Lotus is known for their banh mi sandwiches served on daily baked baguettes, intensely flavorful and unique meats that cannot be found anywhere in the city. There are other banh mi shops, but none that deliver the freshness that Lotus promises.We are most proud of the way Lotus is operated. We have a great work culture, and haven’t lost a full-time employee in years. We treat workers and customers alike, with respect and dignity. We have almost zero food wastage, as our cook to order process prevents any meats from sitting out longer than a few minutes before serving. Efficiency is our addiction, and one day, we hope to achieve that goal.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?

Like most Chicagoans, we like to complain about our city, mostly the high taxes and those darn parking tickets. But one trip to any other place in the US and we start to miss Chicago. The food, the diverse culture, the city skyline, the people; there is no other place like Chicago.

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