Meet Christopher Tran | Real Estate Developer and Food Hall Operator

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

Hi Christopher, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I have traveled around Asia and Europe, and you can find many bars that all walks of life are enjoying drinks. There’s no label that comes with drinking. There’s no Gen Z is not drinking headlines in the news. You can get a decent glass of house wine which is very affordable inside a sandwich shop. There are bar with bites inside parks where children are running around in the playground while the parents are taking sips from their beers. Of course, there are other kinds of bars, but the point is that drinking doesn’t have to be a thing. It’s normal and drink in moderation. And I want to bring that casualness to my business. It doesn’t have to be a weekend drink, but a drink that you come out with friends, colleagues or a family member to enjoy each others’ company.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Never stop learning and always look for ways to improve and build upon – that is how I got here. I was a cancer researcher when I began my career. When I started, I was always looking to learn from others and eventually, a major project was handed to me. I persistently would do experiments after experiments until I was content with the results. That is when I striked gold, twice! I helped co-invented two pharmaceutical drugs in prostate cancer. Ultimately, I grew out of science and I got into urban development and street safety. This is when my wife (business partner) and I started a food hall to provide a 3rd place for the community to come together and grow. Despite having no experience in developing a food hall, I just knew that if I am willing to learn, it will get there. Then when our bar vendor left, I wanted to take the bar in a different direction to improve the food hall because the way I see it, the bar is a big integral part of the establishment. We called it Bar Blossom because we want it to have a connection to our food hall, Blossom Market Hall.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Currently, I live in Amsterdam and there are so many places to have a great time. We would need to start the day early because there is so much to take advantage of riding through town. That carefree feeling from riding a bike.

I would take my old friend on a bike ride through Vondelpark to get coffee. A special coffee place comes to mind is UnCommon Coffee. This place has servers, yes servers. You order from your table and the server brings you coffee.

Then for noon time, we would take our bikes and ride to De Kas, a plant based restaurant inside a park. It has its own garden where the plants are harvested in the morning and placed on your plate in the afternoon. Former President Obama has eaten there a few years back.

Amsterdam is very well known for its museums. So, we would head to Straat Museum in north Amsterdam via a free ferry ride. The museum is filled with world renowned graffiti arts, some are 15′ x 25′ in size. I love the museums here in Amsterdam because there’s always a grand story behind the entire exhibit making it immersive.

Then for dinner, we would return back Amsterdam City Center to go to Utage Sake Bar. A Japanese bar and restaurant that pairs various sake with various small Japanese fusion dishes. It’s an interesting place. You have genuine Japanese hospitality with Dutch gezellig ambience.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to highlight Utage Sake Bar in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It inspired my bar business. I didn’t know much about sake until I set foot in this bar. I have always thought of drinking sake with sushi, but that’s not the case here. Who would have thought Mozzarella cheese could go well with sake? There are many types of sake out there, from light to floral to complex and full-bodied. Different sake can pair well with different types of food. My favorite pairing is Junmai with spicy beef tacos. This is what Utage Sake Bar taught me. I want to bring that unique experience to Bar Blossom to induce conversations between people when drinking.

Website: https://www.riverpluswood.com