Building the Legacy of Asia on Argyle w/Hac Tran & Jennifer "Nuky" Pham

0:05 Hey everyone, welcome to the Bunmi Chronicles podcast. So I am joined with two good friends of mine, Hak Tran and Nookie Pham, and they are now the co-owners of Habeo Cafe on Argyle Street in the Chicago uptown neighborhood. The cafe has recently opened up several weeks ago this fall. Congratulations to both of you. The Asian Argyle community has been home to many Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodian immigrants and refugees for the past 50 years. I've known both of you for several years now, and what I've learned about you is that you have been...

0:46 Paving the way in preserving the identity and culture of that community, despite the many threats it has faced with many folks, including the Vietnamese folks migrating from the city to the suburbs, the wave of gentrification that hovers over. the CTA construction and so forth. And Hawk, you were on my show actually in the first season, 2019, which is like six years ago, which is quite, it's quite, it's quite shocking because it's like, I can't believe it's been that long. but it also feels forever ago at the same time. And that was when I knew you and Noki had already been starting Habaio.

1:28 You were doing late night parties in the Asian Argyle community. And then the pandemic happened and both of you were working closely with these businesses in the wake of anti-Asian hate and the after effects of the pandemic. And now you have finally opened your cafe. And I want to say congratulations. And what has that been like for both of you to bring this long-awaited dream to the neighborhood that we all grew up in? Yeah, thank you so much, Randy, for that introduction and also, you know, for, you know, all your support throughout the years. Yeah, I can't believe it's been six years since the last conversation we've had. But yeah, I wanted to let also Jennifer say, Sure.

2:15 Thank you again, Randy. This has been an incredible journey. And also knowing you through the years and you attending our late night parties, because that's how we started. And I'm just so grateful to be able to be on this journey with Hawk, my good friend from for many years now, and to be able to build not only a cafe, but a community space. Yeah. So what was the genesis in starting this cafe then? And like, what was triggering this idea? Sure. Well, I'll, I'll start how, well, we, we, our intention for Argyle street was to bring people back to the neighborhood.

2:58 I grew up in the neighborhood. My parents were the first Vietnamese business owners and both Hak and I have been friends since we were young and his, Parents and my parents were also friends and we were just chatting about ways we can bring people back to the neighborhood because we've seen it change through the years and we noticed that the younger generation wasn't spending much time. on Argyle Street. And so we started off as a party and we had like a late night, you know, fall hour. We had highlighted Southeast Asian DJs and it was just a, you know, really fun way to bring people back to the neighborhood. And from there, it just grew and morphed into something a lot bigger than we had imagined.

3:46 But the intention of bringing people back to the neighborhood was always there. And that's how the cafe idea even started. Because what started off as a party turned into a festival. Then we started to do mutual aid work. And then we started to apply for grants from the city of Chicago. And we were able to throw festivals. And through these conversations of bringing people together, we... we were just trying to find ways to, you know, have people be able to work with one another. And so the idea of having a cafe where people can co-work, they can have conversations and just enjoy having, you know, some drink and food and, and, and spend, spend time on Argyle street after like the later hours.

4:36 So that's how the idea started. Do you want to add anything? Yeah, I think just to kind of echo what Nikki said, you know, like we started as this pop up party with really no kind of blueprint of the future. So it kind of organically happened and we kind of just adapted to whatever kind of the world threw at us. But, you know, there was always an intention of like being grounded and rooted in like community. And you were lucky enough to have those relationships in the past, you know, just by being involved in the community in different capacities. And, you know, like I think like for the cafe itself, the brick and mortar, like an opportunity came up post-pandemic We were already 501c3 at the time, in addition to having kind of that LLC.

5:26 So we're kind of a social enterprise model where we both have a business side, but we have a strong nonprofit wing as well. And, you know, the opportunity arose post-pandemic where the city of Chicago was offering, it's called like the Chicago Redevelopment or CRG grant. which was like investing in construction capital projects that have a strong, like basically impact to certain communities of color throughout the city. So that was a great opportunity. We spoke with Ellen from Q Ideas because she also like has the space on Argyle and she kind of took over the business and was thinking about like, either shutting her doors or downsizing.

6:13 So it was a great opportunity for us to come together and reimagine like, hey, let's apply for this grant. You know, it might be a long shot. If we get it, then we move forth. and like to our surprise like we were able to get this grant that really helped uh redevelop and reimagine the space that we have here today uh so it's a very symbiotic relationship between like q ideas as well as hama yo in terms of like creating this kind of social enterprise model that has uh different identities that coexist within the same space uh but like like nookie said i think it's really critically important that what we're creating is like not just a cafe, right? I think the cafe allows us to utilize the space that we've developed for people to come here, connect as a third space when we weren't really gonna utilize the space anyways.

7:04 So I think that's like an opportunity that we saw fit for the community. So we kind of pursued that route. But yeah, I think it's been, I guess now like three weeks or so, two and a half weeks of opening the cafe. And it's been, you know, like we've gotten traction and it's good to see, you know, people reach out, wanting to utilize space, collaborate, bring their own ideas. Like tonight, we have an open mic night. It's from Gen Z, Filipina, a community member who... frequented our cafe and wanted to just host something so we're collaborating on that front uh so so like you know like to provide spaces is ultimately the goal of like drawing people back here having dialogue of community culture heritage but also providing platforms for younger people to think about how they can contribute and envision the future of argyle I really appreciate this being for both of you to share the journey in creating this space.

8:13 Actually, I visited the space about actually back in May, it was like before it was officially opened, months before it was opened. And I was like walking through, I was like, wow, this is such a beautiful atmosphere. And there were like homages to old Vietnamese pop stars of the eighties and nineties. And then I also saw one of the big signs. I can't remember what storefront it used to be from, but that blew me away. It started conjuring up some very old memories. And just walking around it, it's like, wow, this is... This is what it means to preserve the history of the streets.

8:56 I mean, this is a street that I used to go to growing up as a kid. I mean, me and my brothers and my family would always go there every weekend. And back then, I used to hate those trips because this was before, I mean, if I had a cell phone or if I had an iPad at the time, then maybe I wouldn't have suffered as much. But I mean, I'm a very Russ's kid. So I was like, for an hour on that car, it was brutal. But... But I always find a lot of nostalgia coming back. And I always have these weird memories of what this place used to be. What was that business before Q Ideas and Javeo came in?

9:36 What was that business? Because I thought it was Sunwa for some reason. Because Sunwa used to be over in that area, that specific spot. So, yeah. For me, it's like I always... Oh, really? It was at Sunwa. Yeah, original Sunwa. original sudden wall building but before then it was like a japanese gift shop like i think even before our time uh because i look at old images of argyle and it was like this japanese gift shop which is like interesting because like now like q ideas is kind of like represents that um but yeah so where the cafe is in the back is where they were roasting ducks and stuff oh wow that that's what i was thinking i was like this has got to be like where someone used to be and so i mean this also kind of goes to show you like the many changes that have happened in the past say 40 years and um a lot of the parents that um that used to frequent there or own these businesses have now since retired.

10:37 And Noki, I know that this year has been very tough with the recent passing of your father, but I think it's important to talk about your father's legacy here because he was one of the first Vietnamese And he had the first Vietnamese-owned business on that street. It was Mini TX Pharmacy, which now stands, which you have also been, you know, leading and taking over that business. But what was... going through your dad's mind when he decided to open up this business and what was his experience prior to coming to America? Like why the pharmacy?

11:19 Why that in particular? What was it about Argyle that made it very intriguing? So my dad was a pharmacist in Vietnam and he also had a pharmacy also on a corner in Vietnam in Guang Ai. which is like the middle of Vietnam. And he ended up losing everything from the war and fled to America. And when he first came here, both my mom and my dad ended up in Iowa. And, oh, no, they ended up at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas at a refugee camp.

12:00 And then they saw that there was some opportunity in going to school at Iowa. So they ended up at the University of Iowa And my, at that time, my grandma lived in Chicago, which is my dad's mother. And so my dad ended up going, spending time in Chicago right after he went to school. And so there were, at that time, there were Uptown was done in nonprofit organizations and they were helping a lot of the Vietnamese refugees. And so my dad ended up working right by Truman College at a pharmacy, right?

12:41 Like across the street. And he noticed that there were many Vietnamese people in the neighborhood and he started to translate the prescriptions in Vietnamese. And so he really, I think it was just kind of, you know, there was just so many Vietnamese people in the neighborhood and And he saw a need for it. And when my mom got out of school, she ended up choosing the building that the pharmacy is at right now. She just thought a corner would be really beautiful. And there were a couple of Asian grocery stores close by and the price was right. And so they ended up signing a lease and My dad down the road ended up purchasing that part of the building and they were able to open up their pharmacy.

13:34 And it wasn't only a pharmacy. The name of the pharmacy is called Mini Kung Sa Pharmacy, which means mini mall. And so they also had a video rental shop and... It was also the first music shop on Argo, which is interesting. And they sold fabric and, you know, really just whatever people wanted and needed at the time. Like people were like, folks were asking for movies that were dubbed in Vietnamese and, and music and they wanted to get their film developed. And so anything like people were asking for, my dad ended up providing or bringing on people that could provide that. Hmm. Yeah, I think what I remembered back in the day, it was like, yes, I do remember it was a video rental store, too.

14:17 It felt like there was a different storefront, like, besides just the pharmacy. I was like, wow, this is very unique. And was it very similar to what was it like back in the homeland? No, no, his pharmacy in Vietnam was just solely a pharmacy, nothing else. And, you know, it's interesting because we weren't able to have conversations about his past up until right before his passing, because I think it was too difficult for him to share about his past. And he would sometimes get angry. when I would ask questions. And I think it was just tough for him to be able to talk about it.

14:59 And so I don't know too much of the detail, but I do know that it meant a lot to him. And the building where the pharmacy was in Guanghai was owned by my grandmother at the time. So this legacy business continuing. Yeah, and also like in continuing this part, but I remembered there was a story that your dad was about to sell that business. I mean, this was like several years ago. And I mean, I was, I think I was hearing it on a podcast that you were on and I was like busy cleaning my apartment and I almost like literally stopped. I literally just dropped my broom when I heard that your father was about to sell it.

15:42 I think it was to a CVS if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, yeah, correct. Yeah. honestly would have completely changed the face of that community what was going through your dad's mind at that time when he was looking to sell that business and how did how was he convinced to not sell that so he at the time cbs multiple times had reached out to him and wanted to purchase the business and my my dad for many years he wasn't interested but um he he did notice like you know, he's getting older. Um, my parents were already thinking about a retirement plan and both his kids, my brother and I weren't interested in pharmacy and, you know, he just really like for him, I think the, the idea, like he wanted us to take it over, but we, both my brother and I weren't interested.

16:36 And so my, my dad, you know, bought up the idea of selling the pharmacy and And that's when I realized like, oh damn, you know, like this, this, this is something that could end up being just part of the past and it didn't sit right with me. And, um, you know, I started to give it some more thought and I, I realized at the time that, you know, I wanted to continue what he created, but, but maybe in my own way, because at the time I was in acupuncture school and I, I, I, I, I'm more, I was always more interested in like alternative medicine and, um, And so him and I both had a conversation and we were thinking of ways that we can continue the business because I felt that the community needed some alternative ways of healing.

17:28 And so I, I, I bought up idea of like, you know, like let's, let's add more supplements. Let's add more essential oils, just like, you know, just little things just to add to the pharmacy. And he was, he was open to the idea. And so I was like, okay, yeah, let's make it an East meets West pharmacy. Let's bring, you know, like get the younger generation involved and, and yeah, he was interested. And then from there we, we were able to continue the pharmacy. I'm also very curious about like the way the pharmacy is, especially as the Vietnamese elder population is aging and passing away. Um, like and also with the competition too like you know of course with cbs walgreens target and so forth how has this business been able to sustain itself despite the many changes that have happened in that neighborhood we have a strong relationship with the the patients that come in and i think because they've been coming for so many years and and we know the families well.

18:33 I think just from there, it's just that community-oriented connection is what sets us apart from, you know, like a Walgreens or something. The folks, like the Um, the pharmacy technicians, including the pharmacist, also my partner, like they're constantly checking on the patients as well. Like they know them by name. Um, they know their sons, they know their daughters. Um, and, and I think it's just like this strong connection that has always been there. And, um, and so that's been nice. Like they'll, they'll come, they'll drive in from the suburbs just to pick up their medication and, Which I'm so grateful for that we still have that connection.

19:15 But the area is changing quite a bit. And, you know, it's harder for the older folks to come pick up their medication so that, you know, their kids or their grandkids will come pick up the medication. But yeah, we're thinking of ways to... to connect with the changing community now. Like we're actually remodeling the space and we're getting a new sign and, you know, just updating it to bring it into the new, I guess. Yeah. If you heard that old sign, I think you had to bring it back to the Habeo Cafe, just like you. I think you have to, because that's a landmark.

19:55 I am a person who believes in preserving history. So I really hope that you make sure that you take that sign with you. Oh, yeah. We're preserving all the signs on Argyle. If we have the opportunity to, we will. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Hopefully you'll have enough space at some point, you know. But like, yeah, yeah. And for Haak, like, what really led you to, I know this is a very loaded question, but maybe more specifically, like, what... What amped up your need to invest into this community? What makes Argyle so special to you that you feel the need to make this part of your experience?

20:46 Yeah, for me, I didn't live on Argyle Street. My father lived here, but when my parents got married, They moved out to the west side of Chicago and then eventually to the suburbs. But they were always involved. Like my mom worked as a secretary for VAI in the very early years. And then my dad was on the board throughout the 90s. So I was always here. But like for me, like the origin of my connection to Argyle actually is because of Argyle. My parents met each other on Wake Island, which is like right after leaving in 75, April 30th. They went to Wake Island. It was like a military U.S. island or whatever. And my dad was like teaching English and my mom was his assistant at the refugee camps.

21:31 And then also like similar to Nuki's parents, my parents also went through Fort Chafee. or Chaffee in Arkansas. My dad was sponsored by a college here in Chicagoland. And then my mom actually was sponsored by like a Lutheran church, her family, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But I think it was like the snowstorm of like 78 or 79 or whatever, or maybe even 77. I can't remember the year. But back then there was not like, not many Vietnamese restaurants. So actually one of our family friends, Nookie, they used to live on sheridan and argyle um in that building where the tattoo place is now on the second floor so they live there and they used to sell fa out of their house and then they had like mahjong so my dad was there that night like gambling and eating fa and it was like the same night my my mom and her friends from university of like wisconsin milwaukee they're like hey we want to go to chinatown Chicago but then because of the snowstorm like one of her friends heard like oh well there's Argyle and then we heard about this person's house that they sell far from so they're like okay well it's closer so let's go there so they my mom was there and like they like crossed paths again and my dad saw her got her address and phone number and like that's how they started reconnecting again so he would like write letters to her and then go to visit and like because of like argyle street and like that very initial you know like place of

23:06 like home after being you know fleeing your home uh and building community here is how my parents reconnected uh so like you know i i there's like argyle to me is like home even though i never like live physically on argyle But, you know, like for me, like I never had the intention to be here, actually. So I studied during my college years. I went to DePaul for political science and sociology, international studies. And I actually studied abroad in Vietnam in 06, in Hanoi. So I studied abroad in Hanoi. I came back. I never wanted to be in Chicago. And then the following year, I went to Budapest, Hungary.

23:48 I studied there. And then immediately when I came back and graduated, I moved back to Vietnam for three years. And then I you know, came back here with the intention of going to graduate school, which I did. I did a, uh, master's in urban planning and policy in international planning with the intention of like, Hey, I'm going to move back to Vietnam and do international development work. Cause I was like involved with like save the children. Um, another organization I lived in central Vietnam, uh, The author and filmmaker, author Lately Hayslip in California, there was a movie Oliver Stone made about her called Heaven and Earth. She was actually my boss in Hoi An.

24:29 So doing a lot of kind of development work with like really like deep rural communities in the mountains. So we did a lot of different types of like flood mitigation work, you know, job development stuff like in Vietnam. And that's what I wanted to pursue. But like during my time in graduate school, like I was working at Southeast Asia Center. and like started getting involved back into the community. This was probably like 2012 through 2014, where I like started like seeing like, hey, Argyle is really changing. Like it's no longer this, even back then, like 12, 13 years ago, right? Like it was different than like what I remembered in the 90s and even early 2000s.

25:13 So like a lot of my research pivoted, my master's project pivoted to create Basically, my master's project was called like Street Access. And it was like a social enterprise food entrepreneurship program with a cafe element for Argyle Street back then. But then like that's where when I reconnected with Nookie, like a lot of things, her ideas. So I had like a basis of like. Hey, man, eventually maybe we could do this. But like when we came together, like we we created Habio and it's like a kind of a fusion of her ideas, really great ideas because she's so creative. And then, you know, like this food entrepreneurship cafe idea.

25:56 I think that was like a somewhat of an unspoken basis for what we are today. But like we never sat down like, hey, this is the blueprint. Right. But like, I think that's how it how I got really committed to the street. as like a caseworker getting to know the community members again and then like i worked for the chamber of commerce in the last eight years i left uh earlier this year uh being able to develop like really strong relationships with like business owners and landowners of this community um so like yeah i think like all those kind of experiences coalesced uh alongside you know the developing relationship of like a rekindling of friendship with nookie and like creating habe yo to like internally decide like hey i'm committed to to argyll again yeah i think to see this come to fruition and also how you came about it is like it's almost serendipitous like you it's not something that you would think of like when you first began this work and and at the end of the day it's like you start to think about those relationships and when i look at the the current landscape of Argyle now I know that there's some empty storefronts too I know that they're usually during the summer there's like the the night market on Thursday evenings but what does it look like for the future especially for Vietnamese and other Asian-owned businesses on that street what are we looking

27:27 at in the next in the future if you have a crystal ball yeah I could take a stab at this yeah So, like, one of the, so, like, the nonprofit end of Haiba Yo, like, we kind of have four kind of key areas. Like, you know, we're a very young nonprofit, and we have, like, there's a fellow who has jumped on board as a consultant, Jefferson Mock, who has a lot of spiritual nonprofit development. He's helping, like, kind of establish the nonprofit alongside me and Nookie to create you know grow it but kind of the four um key areas of the non-profit itself like one of it actually involves like this idea of like vision planning for the future um and that's the regenerate program so we have like one is activate is kind of like to re Introduce like a lot of the cultural programs that we have, like the cultural festivals.

28:27 So we've done, you know, like in May, like the API block party. We just like collaborate with a bunch of other organizations for the mid autumn moon. But we want to kind of expand it again to like what we did in 21, 21, 22. Regenerate that program is about like thinking about like urban planning, succession planning of businesses. and also recruitment of young Asian-American entrepreneurs to cover those vacant storefronts and regenerate the area to sustain this cultural identity. So we are awaiting several grants, which unfortunately right now it's very hard to obtain grants, especially under this administration.

29:13 But that is kind of the pathway to answer these questions right and it's a lot of work right there's never one stop solution to these things um so you know i think the first thing we can do is like what i want to do for 2026 in the beginning uh of the year maybe quarter one is like creating like uh a group of stakeholders, business owners, land owners, second generation people who have taken over to create a conversation. I want to invite them here. Maybe eventually we create a steering committee to have a seat at the table in terms of planning decisions that exist right now beyond us.

29:56 Argyle itself, why it's Argyle was because of multiple leaders that of the past. Charlie Sue was one of them. He was considered the mayor of Argyle. But he had his own organization that really worked directly with City Hall to be the representative of the businesses of the community. And once he passed, that kind of disintegrated. And a lot of these seats at the table were absorbed into the Uptown Chamber of Commerce. which have some people from the community on the board. But I think how do we think about that model and build very hyper-local power amongst stakeholders in this community to have the seat at the table, to have an input and a voice in terms of planning, investment redevelopment projects that occur and impact our community so like what that entails is really first step is like building that coalition um so that's like something that we're looking towards um but then of course you know like through that coalition there's issues of you know, vacant storefronts.

31:10 So like, how do we think about succession? How do we think about leveraging funds from the city to redevelop projects of like certain buildings that maybe building owners don't have enough money to fix? Thinking about like co-op models of like purchasing a retiring business, right? There's models like that exist already in different kind of diasporas in like Houston and Seattle, in these like neighborhoods that are like of Asian descent, that we don't have to reinvent the wheel. Like next week, CBCAC Grace has this whole forum that talks about these things for Chinatown, which I'm attending. So how do we look at other organizations doing very similar things that have done it already and learning from them and collaborating and partnering with them to do that here?

31:59 So that's one of the programs that Haibaiyo, the nonprofit, is really trying to engage in thinking about preservation, but actionable steps towards preservation. And since the cafe is opening a couple of weeks ago, and also coinciding with the CTA stop finally opening up after a few years, now ice raids have been happening all over Chicago, specifically on the north side as well. How has that impacted Argyle Street? And how have both of you responded in the wake of the ice raids?

32:43 Yeah. Oh, and also and also on the snap cuts as well, too, because that's also very important for a lot of the community. I don't want to miss on that, too. Yeah. Yeah. So I could share briefly. And also, Nuki, I know that you have we have like plans in motion for a lot of these things in response. So, yeah, we've like I'm in constant conversation with. uh, the people who are part of the rapid response groups, uh, we, who's the, who you know, well, and also, uh, he's like chief of staff for Juan. He's, uh, like I'm in constant conversation about like, um, you know, when S rates happen, um, he's informing me and I'm like potentially informing other business owners.

33:26 We were just at a conference actually the day before, or the same day where Juan actually, where eyes pointed a gun to his face. Like I was in the same meeting with him. It was about like, hey, knowing your rights as business owners. It was at VAI and we were there together and like they were in the car and they're like, hey, see you later. And then that happened, which is like pretty insane. But yeah, it's been, It's been scary. The state of the world, this is not a system that I've ever imagined living in. It strips away so many human rights. I think we all agree that this is unprecedented and scary.

34:13 But that doesn't mean that we just shake in fear. It's about building collective power and having that knowledge. I know that Ellen is part of a group that is going to be on watch for the Gaudi students with whistles and for them to get safely to school and safely home. And there's a But I'll let Nookie talk about the programs that we are thinking about in regards to both ICE and SNAP. There's been collaborations about potentially holding something here regarding knowledge-based stuff for business owners and community members regarding ICE raids. But also maybe I'll let you talk about the SNAP stuff as well and the potential ICE programming.

34:59 Yeah, well, we've been sharing as much info as possible and also educating ourselves. And as far as the SNAP benefits, since we just opened, we were planning on having a shelf of non-perishable items so that we can continue to add to the shelf. And then if anyone needs food, then They can just take it. So it's kind of like a, you know, give what you can, grab what you can type of program. And I mean, really, it's just like Hawk said, it's unprecedented times. And we are just trying our best to gather as much information as possible and also share as much as possible, but also continue to cultivate joy.

35:45 Because while this is all happening, one thing that is sometimes difficult to do is to continue the joy and and to continue um coming together in community and so uh yeah it's it's it's kind of you know it i would say it's difficult to navigate through um but we're still making it happen um that's it yeah And how are the elder Vietnamese folks that have known Argyle for so long, how have they responded to the work that's being done? How have they responded to the changes that have happened over the years? I mean, is there like a lamenting, like, I hate to see this go away.

36:25 I'm curious to see what your thoughts are, especially with... you trying to honor the elders who have come before, but also trying to bring in second generation Vietnamese folks and other Asian folks to invest their time in there. Yeah, I think in I've always felt that in order to move forward in a positive manner, I think that it's important to share the history of what was there before us. And for like any opportunity we have to connect with the elders, we do. And we, we, oftentimes like they, they share their experiences and, um, and it's like high bio is like meant to also be a space for healing and a healing between the generations.

37:20 I always felt that there was a gap between the generations, like growing up, my, you know, parents had their own experiences, but it was, it was too painful to, to share. And also me growing up as an American, I also didn't understand their hardships and, And so I think through the years, I've been able to heal my relationship with my parents. But that also echoes into the healing that is within the community itself. Because my experience is not only my experience. I also noticed that it's like my friends are also going through the same thing as well. And so being able to bridge that gap and to allow the older generation to be able to share their experiences.

38:05 has been, I think, very monumental in our growth as Haiba Yo. The older folks have been coming into our space and they love it. They love to see the old signs. They love to try the new drinks as well. And they love seeing the younger community being so excited to be in a space where you see the old signs. And so it's been really beautiful to see and to create. Yeah, I think it's. Oh, yeah. Sorry, Randy, just to add a little bit to that, like there are like on the nonprofit and like in the past that we've done, like a lot of kind of healing events, but additionally, like oral history kind of programming.

38:50 And that's like another kind of thing that we want to strengthen for the future is like really document and record both auto like a visual and audio of lived experiences of long-term community members from this diaspora to have that lamented in history, right? And to have that honored and recorded. I think that's really important of archiving these experiences. So that's a program that we're also kind of navigating for the future as well. I am thinking about like what other ways are you using the space? I know you want to make it more community oriented and I'm very curious, are you working on any partnerships or any collaborations with other organizations or groups?

39:35 I'm curious to see what ideas you're looking to create for the next year. Yeah. Well, we've been, there's been quite a bit of a, like a lot of organizations who have been reaching out to us who want to collaborate. And I think with high by yo, we've always, it's never rigid. It's always, it's always been very creative. Like we come up with ideas and then if like, say you Randy, like you had an idea and you wanted to do something on in, in our space, you know, we just chat about it and then we create something together. And, I think that's, what's been really beautiful because there's no like one way.

40:18 Um, and, but I, I do have to say like, you know, it's, it's always rooted in creativity with music, with food, um, healing, um, sharing stories. And, and so it's just, I would say like a wide array of ideas, really. It's like, it's in many ways, it's a blank canvas of, of what you want to create, but there's always a healing aspect to it and culture. Um, culture forward. Yeah, and just to add too, like in terms of like already existed partnerships and collaborations, like just yesterday we had a, we hosted, you know, Lenny's office for their participatory budgeting meeting, which like allows platform for like residents of 48th Ward to like have a key role in like where the money is spent.

41:09 Also with VAEI, they're doing their youth, like providing space for kind of the youth organizing with Heung the last two weekends. But also like, yeah, just like providing space, but also we also were engaged with collaborating in terms of youth education this past year. But we worked with Stopping Grounds Literary Arts Initiative. who's algin uh who been like kind of the resident dj of uptown for many years but he also runs a non-profit um so we provided audio production zines comic book uh illustration classes um as well as uh I think narrative storytelling to youth fifth to eighth grade at Gaudi, at McCutcheon.

42:01 And also recently, I'm in conversation now of the newly formed Friends of Gaudi board that I'm joining to think about fundraising of how to give back to the youth in our space. So there's multiple layers and multiple platforms of collaboration that we are always open to and I know my friend Tony and I were saying that we really need to have a Vietnamese language exchange group here. I'm trying to learn my Vietnamese too. It's still pretty choppy. If I say...

42:46 I don't know if you're able to understand that. Yeah, I understand. You've been sending me to me since June. Nice work. It's a hit or miss. It's really a hit or miss with a lot of folks because either they understand me or they completely don't. But I do better with the writing, surprisingly. So I've been catching up on that instead. But I hope that there will be more opportunities for that too because I think that the possibilities are endless. What would you say are your favorite recommended must-haves on the menu of the cafe? You go first. Yeah, the cafe Mui is delicious.

43:27 And the coffee is a collaboration with Fiat Five and Subdoc called Chu Hai. So it's like an after-roast coffee. And... And it's made just like cafe su with the condensed milk. And then we add mui on top. So it's like a salted foam. It's delicious. So I highly recommend that. And the matcha. The matcha lattes is really good. The matcha is from Volition Tea. And it's single origin. It's a Chinese mocha. And it has a beautiful flavor. So I recommend those too. Hmm.

44:08 Yeah, I recommend... I'm usually just straight black coffee. The bitter, the better. But I think what I do want to kind of spotlight is that on the cafe side, we're very intentional... about where we're sourcing the beans, right? Like, Thuan at Viet 5 has his own farm. It's like single origin direct from his family in Vietnam. Annie from Volition works directly with farmers to really kind of spotlight the art and craft of these tea leaves. Very high quality, single origin. And then also our other beans, The Arabica beans, we work with Mikey, Indonesian American roaster here in Chicago that also really has like strong connections to like farmers throughout Southeast Asia, very small emerging coffee farmers.

44:59 So like, you know, like whatever the drink may be, I think like knowing that kind of pathway and that intention of like sourcing really high quality stuff, but also like in an impactful way for that honor kind of the farmers themselves. For me, I just like a straight black coffee iced. But that's either the Vietnamese one or the Arabica ones. Robusta Arabica, I like. But yeah, I do like the Vietnamese salted cream coffee a lot. That's great. I came up with the recipe, too. Yeah. Awesome, awesome. Jack has been batching it. Yeah, like, I... don't drink alcohol anymore and I've also had to watch out for my sugar intake so it's like but I still have the guilt of taking cafe soda sometimes but I do like to drink I'm actually starting to like cold brew which I never thought I would like but here I am like years later like oh okay this is like a necessity I look at it as a necessity because I need to stay awake but yeah like also shout out to VFI because I am such a huge fan of Dunn's work Twan's work and I'm also thinking about, for both of you, when you look back on all the hard work that you've been putting on, laying the groundwork for this to finally open, what are you most proud of right now at this moment?

46:28 Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah, well, for me is building this community. has been the most fruitful and rewarding thing that I feel so proud of. And it's, it's not just like, it's not, it's not just like building of the community, but, but finding, finding those who didn't always feel connected to home, right. To be able to feel proud of who they are, where they came from and to also, like be able to have this platform here where people can share about their experiences. Um, we've, we've had, you know, like adoptee stories shared in our space or, um, like Vietnamese folks, like who grew up here, who, you know, always felt uncomfortable being, being Vietnamese or, or like Vietnamese, Cambodian or black, you know, like, and, and you just have this completely different experience.

47:27 And so I, I've, I've always felt, um, um, in many ways disconnected from the community just because I always felt so different. And so I've always wanted to create a space where people feel welcome to be who they are and to be able to shine in their own light. And so I'd say I'm most proud of that and excited about that. Yeah, I would have to echo that same feeling. As well, you know, like I think we, when we started this early, you asked like, you know, what was the intention of starting this?

48:09 And it was like bringing community back. And I think like over the last six, seven, eight years, we've been able to garner an interest and commitment and investment in this community again. I think that's something to be proud of. And I'm proud of, you know, I'm proud of my passion. my co-founder and business partner, Nuki, too. You know, I think I'm proud of us for, you know, I think we've talked internally a lot. It's like both of us really never imagined like coming back to Argyle. Right. So I'm proud that we kind of pivoted our mindset and like was able to invest in this way and, you know, be able to create a community with other and it's not only us right like none of this happens without everyone else it doesn't happen with like even like you randy for allowing us to share our platform and telling our story but also like everyone that um yeah that we've worked with and partnered with and collaborated over the years and moving forward too that who we will you know the potentially new relationships that we build um yeah so i'm proud of that Yeah.

49:20 Yeah. And as we start to wrap up, let me see if I could take another stab at Vietnamese here. So I want to say... Aw, that's sweet. C'mon Randy. C'mon Frank. C'mon Randy. C'mon Randy. C'mon Randy. C'mon Randy. Okay, so thank you so much. And I hope that people get to follow Habayo Cafe. And also you can follow Habayo on Instagram.

50:02 And yeah, all the best to you in your endeavors with this. I think this is going to be such a great gem for this community. And if not, it already is. But I really hope nothing but the best for this. This is just wonderful. And thank you so much for sharing your time. Thank you so much, Randy. I appreciate it. Thank you.