Business Spotlight: Sen Saigon
An Nguyen Hawks and Erik Dornbush Hawks, owners of Sen Saigon
Sen Saigon
150 E Broadway
We’re excited to spotlight Sen Saigon! Sen Saigon is a new fast casual Vietnamese restaurant that opened in February 2024. Owners An Nguyen Hawks and Erik Dornbush Hawks intially started Sen Saigon when they hosted a tasting menu event in February 2023 with a group of friends. Since then, the two have thrown themselves into launching the restaurant full time to the NYC community!
Blog by Josephine White, Photos by Josephine White and Parinoz Khojiboeva
An Nguyen Hawks is not only a wife, mother, and a former accountant, but she is also an entrepreneur. She and her husband Erik Dornbush Hawks, a software engineer, have recently opened Sen Saigon! Their restaurant, a combination of Erik’s love of business development (and supporting his wife) and An’s love for Vietnamese cuisine and experimental cooking, serves traditional Vietnamese dishes with all plant-based ingredients.
The Conception of Sen Saigon
The idea of Sen Saigon began in February 2023 when they hosted a “Tasting Menu” event, hosting a group of friends for a meal entirely prepared by An. Feeling inspired, An decided she wanted to quit her job and invest fully into the food business. An worked tirelessly through various cooking jobs to gain experience, experimenting in the kitchen, recording her recipes, and completing proper food certifications. In June 2023, the couple hosted their first pop up and continued to host events throughout the summer. In the fall, the two officially decided it was time to grow into an independent business.
When it came time to choose a location for the business, the two explored spaces all around the city before committing to Chinatown. An and Erik considered many factors such as accessibility, rent, and even lunch crowd populations. The couple also knew they wanted to have ample space so customers could sit and enjoy dishes, especially their soups.
Ultimately, they decided on Chinatown. Additionally, An was already a frequent visitor of Chinatown, as she would come to purchase various Vietnamese spices and herbs for her dishes. The couple also discovered that there was already an established market for not only prepared vegan food, but also vegan grocery in the area (check out our spotlight on Lily’s Vegan Pantry). They believed that this would serve as an asset to their business….and the two predicted correctly! They quickly grew a vast group of repeat customers. And despite only serving vegan food, they have found that they attract non-vegan customers just as frequently.
Pursuing a Dream
From her experience, An advises that if you have a dream or passion, even if it may seem unrealistic, you should always test it out and give yourself the chance to succeed. In fact, in the beginning of their business, they made very little profits despite often working into the wee hours of the morning. Thus, An found it crucial to continue asking herself “do I truly enjoy the work I am doing and will my sacrifices be worth it”? As a parent, An also struggled with having less time to spend with her son. Despite both the physical and mental challenges they faced, they were able to stay motivated in part to their large network of supportive friends. An and Erik are incredibly grateful to have friends who provided assistance to them during the process of creating the restaurant. And the couple hopes to be able to provide support to other individuals with big dreams like they had, as a way to give back to their community.
The two are most proud of how far they have come as a team in creating the restaurant. Despite the fast pace that they have been operating under, An and Erik have been able to ground one another as business partners- and husband and wife. The couple is particularly proud in their ability to problem solve together through open communication. They stay motivated every day by being able to not only honor their personal love for not only veganism, but also for each other. In addition, the two are incredibly happy to have created a space which not only serves as a tribute to An’s heritage, but also to serve as a special alcove of Vietnamese cuisine and culture for others to experience.
Be sure to stop by Sen Saigon at 150 E Broadway! Not sure what to order, check out our Bánh Mi, Lotus Root Salad, or Spicy Noodle Soup.
Chinatown establishments like Sen Saigon are what makes the spirit of our neighborhood. We need your support now more than ever to keep that spirit alive. Together, we can preserve Chinatown businesses and ensure Chinatown will always be open for business. To support Chinatown organizations like Sen Saigon, donate to the Small Business Innovation Hub here:
