Team Stem & Friendship Kitchen
Wei-En Tan, Ph.D., DipWSET
Owner & Founder
Wei-En was born in Singapore but spent many years of her youth in her family’s vineyard in Bordeaux and later Burgundy, immersing herself in viticulture and learning an appreciation of minimal intervention and respect for terroir. Alongside her CFI and commercial pilot licenses in airplanes and helicopters, Wei-En obtained her PhDs, masters and bachelor degrees in Mathematics, Economics, Political Science and Comparative Literature from Stanford, Cornell and Harvard Universities. After aerospace, clean energy and venture capital roles, Wei-En founded her own company in AI medical imaging. She moved to Portland and fell in love with Oregonian wines. Now, Stem Wine Bar is her passion. Her goal is to create an "Oregon Meets the World" menu focused on flights and glass options, with no judgment or pretension, so everyone can taste as many wines as they can, or revisit old favorites in good company.
Trang Nguyen Tan, Angel, Chef, Entrepreneur
Owner, Founder and Chef
Trang Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and immigrated to the USA at the age of 13. Without knowing any English when she arrived, Trang graduated from high school in Vancouver WA, then went to Washington State University, where she worked her first real restaurant job as a dishwasher. After college, Trang travelled the world as a flight attendant for Delta and is now currently on track to obtaining her pilots license under Wei-En’s instruction (and wings). Trang is a prolific restauranteur and chef, and their other Vietnamese restaurant, Friendship Kitchen, has been featured in Forbes as well as countless other food appreciation sites. With boundless optimism and kindness, Trang espouses a philosophy of creating space that is safe and open, yet cozy and always welcoming for everyone.
Trang and Wei-En met at Alouette—now Friendship Kitchen 2: Saigon to Singapore— in 2022, when both were alone, sad, and had “given up on love.” They got married in June 2023 and are enjoying their wholesome lives… :D
Pets of Stem!
Wei Wei
I am Wei Wei, Queen of Stem Wine Bar. I enjoy watching mice run around an iPad, meowing for people to play with me, and watching in a judgmental way when my human drinks too much wine. I prefer French wines, and am particularly partial to low tannin reds for the summer. Above all, I like juicy wines that undergo carbonic maceration & fermentation with native yeast. I am the shining light for the dog Mojo.
Mojo
I am an Aussie Labra-doodle, I am a lover-boy and I wear two hearts on my back. However I believe my most important role is as Wei Wei’s servant. I follow her around everywhere and copy everything she does as she needs to be protected. I believe I am SUPER GUARD DOG and my goal in life is to bark and chase after every single thing that threatens my family, from evil leaves to cars to iphone airdrop sounds. I love Wei Wei and my mommies!
Caspian
My name is Caspian, but you can call me Cass. My favorite sport is soccer, because booping the ball with my nose is a lot of fun. My mom tells me I have strong Taurus energy because I need to smell every plant and flower when I go on walks around town. My mom is also my favorite person in the whole wide world.
Harry
My name is Harry and I'm about 5 years old, I think. I'm a mix of the best parts of at least 7 different breeds and a derpy goofball. I love everyone and their pets and treats! I don't know what I like more, chasing or being chased by other doggos at the park. I am super friendly, so please don't hesitate to say hi when you see me, in times like these I'll take all the attention I can get.