On a piece of counter, Son prepares traditional Banh Mi baguettes to order with fish sauce, tamarind and coriander. His wife occupies the space right next door, busy preparing smoothies and teas with tapioca pearls and coconut jelly, commonly known as bubble tea . The Bella Bubble Bar opened its doors in May 2021 next to the trendy cafés and boutiques of the Centro de Sherbrooke. It showcases the flavors of the owner couple's native land. Son also decided to bring back a popular concept from home: the self-serve ice cream bar. And to enhance the 26 flavors, he offers an inventory that will thrill parents and delight little ones: Tagada strawberries, multi-colored licorice, tangy snakes, chocolate pretzels, and caramels of all kinds. A concept that has already earned him a good following. It's clear that this is not Son's first adventure.

Resilience and work

“I like money,” Son Vuong Do tells me, without any malice. It is probably the just reward for survivors who, deprived of everything, are no longer afraid to show themselves and assert their ticket to success. Thirty years ago, with his older brother and his father, young Son, six years old, set sail on a makeshift boat, leaving behind his mother and his four other brothers. After three years in a refugee camp in Thailand, they obtained a pass for Canada. The story of those who have been given the name boat people is often tragic, “we are barely 20% survivors,” confirms Son who has chosen to rewrite his own differently.

As soon as he arrived in Sherbrooke, his father brought the rest of the family over. No one spoke French. The parents found work with tailors. “And I was distributing La Tribune when I was 10 years old!” remembers Son with pride, who has always been very hard-working. In the refugee camp, when he was seven or eight years old, he was paid for his errands. “When I was 12, I would go pick apples, lettuce, and shallots in the summer on the South Shore of Montreal. I was paid by the basket or by the dozen.” Son developed a taste for what work could bring in return.

Have the entrepreneurial spirit

The teenager decided to leave school to work in catering, a field that interested him. "I was a waiter, then I went into the kitchens," he says. "There, I fell in love with it. I moved up quickly. Three months later, I became an assistant cook, and a chef in less than two years!" He worked in several institutions before launching out. At 22, he opened his first restaurant. But his enthusiasm had played tricks on him: "I was in a hurry, I hadn't taken the time to choose the right location," he admits. "After a year, I sold and moved on." He didn't give up and bought another restaurant with his older brother. Then another, with a friend who made sushi. And another, a karaoke bar. Exhausted by the hours, he left catering, bought a truck and became a delivery man. "I never lost out," explains Son. These are all experiences that have led me to where I am today.”

The restaurant business remains his childhood love. He returns to it with passion, as well as with a wife and young children. Bella, the name of his restaurant is the first name of his daughter. Son returned to Vietnam after meeting his future wife. He returned to his roots for a while, but Quebec was close to his heart. "Here, I can start whatever I want, I have the opportunity to carry out all my projects," he confides. "Entrepreneurship shows me that I am capable of success."

It was precisely with the idea of opening a restaurant that he returned with Tran, who would take care of the service with him and the accounting, as she did in the family shrimp farming business. “I had to add an ice cream shop to my restaurant,” says Son, happily. “I remember, I was four and a half years old and it was New Year’s Eve. The adults had given me some money and I went to see the ice cream seller on the street. I sat next to him and robbed his tuk tuk . I was his only customer that day! I bought everything!” An excellent idea since his self-service ice cream bar works just as well as his range of Vietnamese products. The Bella Bubble Bar is an ode to its origins, but also a family project, childhood memories, and the dream of new possibilities. The owner has been delighted with the success since the opening: “this is just the beginning!” "I'm already thinking about opening franchises next year," he says, his eyes shining.