Tag: Asian American

AAPI Heritage Month with Cafe Cà Phê: Travis Young

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By Kelcie McKenney
Photos by Travis Young and Travis Carroll

For Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we teamed up with Catcall magazine to highlight the AAPI team members who make Kansas City’s first Vietnamese coffee shop Cafe Cà Phê possible. Read the intro here, and stick around this week to hear their stories.

What’s your title at Cafe Cà Phê?

Photographer

Where is your family’s country of origin? 

My parents are from Vietnam!

What brought you and/or your family to Kansas City?

My parents ended up in Garden City, KS, because there was work at a meatpacking plant. That’s where I was born. Then as I graduated high school I got a substantial scholarship from any in-state college so I used it to get me to KU in Lawrence, KS. After graduating there I moved to KC because it was the closest and biggest city population-wise that I had experienced at that point.

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AAPI Heritage Month with Cafe Cà Phê: Maddy Best

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By Kelcie McKenney
Photos by Travis Young

For Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we teamed up with Catcall magazine to highlight the AAPI team members who make Kansas City’s first Vietnamese coffee shop Cafe Cà Phê possible. Read the intro here, and stick around this week to hear their stories.

What’s your title at Cafe Cà Phê?

Graphic Designer

Where is your family’s country of origin? 

My mom was born in Hanoi, Vietnam, and my dad’s family is all rooted in Missouri! 

What brought you and/or your family to Kansas City?

We originally came back to Missouri once my parents left the service. Mom worked in healthcare and dad joined the family woodworking business. After I graduated from UCM with my bachelor’s degree, I came to KC to work!

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AAPI Heritage Month with Cafe Cà Phê: Chad Barnes

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By Kelcie McKenney
Photos by Travis Young

For Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we teamed up with Catcall magazine to highlight the AAPI team members who make Kansas City’s first Vietnamese coffee shop Cafe Cà Phê possible. Read the intro here, and stick around this week to hear their stories.

What’s your title at Cafe Cà Phê?

Barista

Where is your family’s country of origin? 

My father is from Malaysia (Kuching to be exact)

What brought you and/or your family to Kansas City?

My husband and I moved to Kansas City for school and work.

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AAPI Heritage Month with Cafe Cà Phê: Phon Wills

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By Kelcie McKenney
Photos by Travis Young

For Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we teamed up with Catcall magazine to highlight the AAPI team members who make Kansas City’s first Vietnamese coffee shop Cafe Cà Phê possible. Read the intro here, and stick around this week to hear their stories.

What’s your title at Cafe Cà Phê?

Photographer + Content Creator

Where is your family’s country of origin? 

Laos

What brought you and/or your family to Kansas City?

My parents originally started in Boston, but had friends in KC who convinced them to move to the area and start a life here.

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The Cafe Cà Phê team is serving up hella good coffee, culture, and AAPI inclusion.

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By Kelcie McKenney

For Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we teamed up with The Pitch to highlight the AAPI team members who make Kansas City’s first Vietnamese coffee shop Cafe Cà Phê possible. Stick around this month to hear their stories.

Cafe Cà Phê makes a damn good cup of coffee. But mixed in with the Vietnamese drip and sweetened condensed milk is the recipe for representation.

If you’re tapped into the Kansas City coffee scene, chances are you’ve heard Jackie Nguyen’s story. But we’ll give you a quick refresher. Nguyen, a first-generation Vietnamese American, left Broadway at the start of the pandemic, moved to Kansas City, and opened Cafe Cà Phê—Kansas City’s first Vietnamese mobile coffee shop. And since then, Nguyen and her coffee shop have positioned themselves as advocates for KC’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

“When I grew up, I felt so ashamed to be Asian. I thought it was so uncool, and I felt like we were always teased and looked down upon,” Nguyen said. “I do not ever want any Asian kid to feel that way because it’s so far from the truth. I hope to combat that.”

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