Page 2 - CHINA WORLD No21 九月刊-final

CHINA WORLD OCTOBER 2017 / 2017 年 10 月刊 02
中国有老手：娘惹厨房创始人忆廿五年
北京餐饮风云
在群贤毕至、风云变幻的北京，经营好一个餐厅实属不易。来自马来西亚吉隆
坡的李冰冰女士和罗福金先生扎根北京，餐厅运作得有声有色。在国贸商城新
开业的娘惹厨房里，这对夫妻共同回忆起北京餐饮二十五载的风云史。
“最大的变化就是中国人的消费力”，罗先生回想起九十年代早期，他们的 20
家烤鸡店遍布北京城，老北京们排着大队来他的小店买烤鸡。这些老顾客后来
成了娘惹厨房的忠实粉丝。
2002 年起中国的开放程度越来越高，他们的店相形之下显得过时了。他们把在
丽都的店改为马来餐厅，这便是第一家娘惹厨房。
娘惹厨房后来开在了国贸商城，点燃了 CBD 白领们对东南亚美食的热情，取得
了空前的成功。2010 年他们从澳洲重返中国，在焕然一新、全城瞩目的国贸商
城五层开出崭新的娘惹厨房，志在一展宏图。
李女士说：“澳洲的生活对于我们来说太平静了，我们想念的不是餐厅，思念
的更多是北京这座活力四射的城市。”
注：本文原载于 Beijinger， 作者 Kyle Mullin
NL5008 北区五层 L5 North Zone
OLD CHINA HAND: NYONYA KITCHEN
FOUNDERS TALK SURVIVING BEIJING’S
TUMULTUOUS F&B SCENE FOR 25 YEARS
Running a restaurant seems like no small feat in Beijing these days, yet Lee Ping Ping and
Kim Loh have done just that, and more. Today the couple – who hail from Kuala Lumpur
and opened a new branch of their Malaysian-style Nyonya Kitchen in the China World
Mall – look back in near awe at all the tumult they’ve witnessed after 25 years in Beijing’s
restaurant scene.
“The biggest change of all is the purchasing power of the local Chinese,” says Kim, who
watched throngs of curious Beijing natives line up to buy takeaway roast chicken from
their small outlets in the early 1990s, only to see those customers become worldly patrons
perusing Nyonya’s current menu at China World Mall.
Kim recalls that they had 20 such small outlets opened across town. However, in 2002,
China began opening up more quickly, rendering Lee and Kim’s shops obsolete. The
couple had more sustained success after turning their roast chicken outlet in Lidu into a sit
down Malaysian restaurant, the first proper Nyonya Kitchen.
(86-10) 8415 0863
After the success, the couple opened Nyonya Kitchen in the basement of China World
Mall, which became an even bigger hit thanks to the throngs of CBD office white collars
hankering after something different for lunch. While the couple spent 2006-2010 in
Australia’s Melbourne, they decided to return to Beijing. The recent move from the
basement of the previous China World food court to the fifth floor of that glitzy new
building is a sign of Nyonya’s staying power.
Lee says they were happy to return to Beijing and try their luck in China World Mall, but
not for the reasons one might expect. “Australia was pretty quiet for us, compared to
here,” she says, adding: “We didn’t miss the restaurant. I think we missed Beijing, because
the city is so vibrant.”
This article was written by Kyle Mullin from the Beijinger.