Meet Sarah Phillips | Bunsnbubbles general manager & chef

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Phillips and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
It has always been a dream of mine to have my own restaurant. I have been working in the restaurant industry on and off for more than 15 years. So when my brother and sister-in-law approached me with this opportunity to open up our family-owned-and-operated restaurant, I could not resist it. The best thing about this whole experience is to be able to work alongside my family, my beloved ones. It sure comes with its own set of challenges and risks, but all the sweats and tears and efforts put in are totally worth it. My heart is overwhelmed with joy and satisfaction when I see customers enjoy the food I had created and especially when they come back for more. My goal is to bring warmth to our customers’ heart through the care I put in our food and hopefully leaving a memorable experience with them. I would hope the best success for our restaurant business, and am doing my very best to fulfill my long time dream.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started out in the restaurant industry over twenty years ago after I finished community college while trying out different roles at different small business, local-owned restaurants. I had been working in the front of the house as hostess and servers, as well as helping out in the back of the kitchen, eventually moved into making and creating dishes as a chef and also kitchen manager role.

The restaurant business is very time demanding, so I took some years off to have more time and focus on my family. I went on to work in the medical field as a professional medical assistant specialized in eye surgery. Although when I stepped away from restaurant business, I continue to hone my cooking crafts and knife skills. I developed a love for food arts, and it is a hobby of mine to try developing new recipes from the knowledge I gained while working as well as combining them with the Vietnamese spices and flavors I was growing up with. I cook for church groups, work groups, school groups, etc whenever I had a chance. The dream of owning a restaurant never left my mind, but it was pushed way down on the list of priorities, that is until my brother Bao and sister-in-law Halina approached me about the idea of opening up our very own family restaurant. There was no doubt this was a great risk and challenge to take as I’m leaving a stable and comfortable career in medical field and tried to open a restaurant during the most difficult time for everyone, during the greatest pandemic probably during my lifetime. It is scary to think of the uncertainties of how people will receive our introduction to Vietnamese sandwiches in a city that does not have a very well diverse food culture (and I can see it’s being changing for the better in the last few years), and how the worst pandemic of our time has devastated families and wreaked havoc on our economy. There were many sleepless nights, many long and hard laboring days to putting everything together, from creating and testing recipes over and over to refine our menu, to working with different city officials for permits and certifications, to designing and decorating the space, etc. It certainly took a lot of sweats and tears, but it is totally worth it because it is our creation, our vision being made a reality.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Colorado Springs a beautiful city and there are many things to see and do. If a friend is visiting from out of town, I’d like to take him/her on a hike with so many beautiful trails in the city, like the panoramic view of the city at Palmer Park, or Red Rocks Canyon, the very challenging incline, etc, but you could never go wrong with the trails at the Garden of the Gods, and maybe checking out some nice local eateries around Old Colorado like TAPAteria for great selections of tapas on their back patio, or Front Range Barbeque, or a good Mediterranean meal at Jake and Telly’s Greek Taverna, or something more unique like Uchenna Ethiopian Restaurant. I like a variety of food and am always open to check out new flavors. I like a good steak at a nice place like the Cowboy Star or Prime 25 once in a while. I enjoy sushi, and even though it’s a little rare to find good sushi place in Colorado Springs, I do enjoy Sushi Ato. Although I personally am not too much of a drinker, so I prefer the non-alcoholic drinks and Buns and Bubbles, but there are so many local breweries in the city that I’m sure we could easily find one for my friends to enjoy. Admittedly the food culture in Colorado Springs were not very diverse, I started to see that has been slowly changing for the better in the last few years. More local restaurants are added over the years and are introducing more unique and different flavors, especially in the downtown areas, and some of my favorites are Four by Brother Luck, Bonny and Read Seafood, COATI, Lucky Dumpling. While in downtown, one can check out the newly opened US Olympic & Paralympic Museum, or a short drive to the very unique and awesome Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. With all that being said, I don’t think there is anything that beats a home-cooked meal, especially one from my family of wonderful cooks. With my mom, sister-in-law’s mom, my other sister-in-law, and myself and our years of perfecting our recipes (some of which made to our menu at Buns and Bubbles), I can guarantee many scrumptious and delicious meals in our homes while hanging out doing what we love most with our family and friends.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My brother (Bao) and his wife (Halina) have been working tirelessly to make the vision for Buns and Bubbles a reality. I am very grateful to them for trusting me all along the way and for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to fulfill my dream. Many big thanks to my dear husband Richard) and children (Destiny and Jahmal) for always being so encouraging and supportive of me throughout this entire process.
I’d like to thank my parents for always demonstrating and instilling good work ethics in all is us children, for keeping us grounded, and always helping us know our Vietnamese root and being appreciative of our culture and food. Also many thanks to my other siblings for always being there for me in good and bad times.

Website: Bunsnbubbles.com

Instagram: buns.n.bubbles

Facebook: Sarah Phillips