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Introducing the Bagel Lady of Beijing By Sheila Shalhevet Sheila
Shalhevet is a writer and photographer who lives in Israel. Her husband Yosi was
the first official Israeli representative to China from 1990 to 1992. She welcomes
reader comments at: sheilashal@yahoo.com
(Bagels in Beijing? Of course. Just visit Mrs. Shanen's Bagels, where Lejen Chen, seen above, will greet you from behind the counter of her wonderful deli. All photos by Sheila Shalhevet, unless otherwise noted) What do my husband Yosi and I look forward to eating when we arrive in Beijing? Chinese food, of course: Roast duck, dumplings, and jian bing for Yosi. And for vegetarian me, noodles, outstanding yu xiang eggplant, bian dou, and visiting the elegant Buddhist Restaurant, Pure Lotus. But I don't want to forget bagels, of course. Yes, bagels in Beijing, thanks to Lejen Chen, also known as Mrs. Shanen, the owner of a bagel empire named Mrs.Shanen's Bagels. On her business card and on the packaging of her products are the Yiddish words, "A shaineh bagel." This expression translates into "a beautiful Bagel," and is a play on her husband's name, Shan En.
(Lovers of bagels can now satisfy their cravings for the food at Mrs. Shanen's Bagels in Beijing). I met Lejen at a party given by a mutual friend on our last visit to Beijing in April 2005. My husband and I have lived in Beijing for long periods of time in the past. We have returned almost every year for short visits, when poor Yosi gets to work and I run around with my camera (which, though technically work, is total fun), and I visit our dear friends. This year was an exception: no work, just fun and a true vacation for both of us. Lejen and I got to talking, and she graciously invited Yosi and me to her restaurant for lunch. So a few days later, we found ourselves in a taxi heading out to the suburbs near the airport. We arrived at a typical wide, dusty road lined with signs advertising the many housing developments going up or which have already been established, but somehow are well hidden from the highway. If one did not know what was behind the scenes, so to speak, one would have to wonder why in the world Lejen would open a restaurant in this, at least on the surface, remote, grey, unpopulated area. But as I mentioned, there are people galore from all over the world cleverly hidden from the road by ingenious landscaping, plus several prestigious private schools to be fed, as well as all those who just take the ride out because, well, in simple terms, this is a great place to eat.
(The restaurant on the outskirts of Beijing is tiled in black. An adjacent building houses a children's annex, where youngsters can eat and play on their own) And so we arrived at Mrs. Shanen's "empire," which consists of several tiled, color-coded buildings sitting in a row, each color denoting a different business, and each business part Lejens'ongoing life's dreams. The restaurant is tiled in black, as is the adjacent building to the right, which houses a children's annex, where youngsters can play and eat on their own. To the left of the restaurant is an art gallery tiled in blue, which is a tribute to her artistic streak, then a custom tailor shop tiled in yellow, and The Attic, a clothing shop tiled in red and an answer to the fact that Lejen the Bagel Lady had dreams of one day being a fashion designer.
(The shelves are stocked with Lejen's bagels. Note also the pita on the shelves, still more wonderful food to sample) We were greeted by Lejen, whose smile lights up not only her face, but everything around her. She is a small, impish woman with enough energy and enthusiasm to infuse everyone with the feeling that when they leave her shops and restaurants, they, too, will immediately start to do those things we always say we will do, but never get around to doing. The restaurant is immaculate, filled with light and sunshine. It is divided into a small retail area, where one can purchase the famous bagels, breads, cookies and cakes, and the sitting area, where absolutely no smoking is allowed. The ambiance is totally casual, and the clientele is as varied as can be. The help is charmingly clad in white with hair covered in the cutest caps.
(The menu includes a variety of foods for morning, noon, and "After") The tables are laid out with all kinds of things to make it a joy to sit there, including a really nifty pizza stand that raises the pizza above the table, leaving you room for elbows and drinks. The dishes are served aesthetically with total attention to every detail of color and elegance in the various plates and serving pieces that arrive.
(There is also a pizza menu in the restaurant) There are three menus from which to choose: Morning Food, Noon and After Food, and a Pizza Menu. There is also a genuine Afternoon Tea served. The choices are limitless and contain every food that one could want: pancakes, waffles, omelets, coffees and teas, homemade lemonade and ice tea, juices, soups, salads sandwiches with much originality and yet so familiar, pizza, burgers with a stunning variety of toppings, macaroni and cheese, and desserts. And, of course, bagels, 25 varieties in all…and lox…and cream cheese….and other cream cheese spreads….and falafel, and humus and tahina…and I could just go on and on. The emphasis is on freshness, and every dish is cooked to order. No dish gets onto the menu without the recipe being first cooked by Lejen and then re-redone over and over until it is perfect, and then tried out on friends and family until finally declared by Lejen's young daughter -- the self-proclaimed expert on what kids like to eat as well the ultimate critic of her mom's cooking. In short, it is home cooking as home cooking should be.
(These two girls in the restaurant were students at the International School in Beijing. They were in the restaurant eating pizza while the writer was there. "They were having so much fun," said Shalhevet, "I couldn't resist photographing them. The young girl on the left turned out to be Israeli and the daughter of a friend and colleague of Yosi. On top of that, we then met up with the parents at the airport in Beijing on the way home from China.") As we were trying to make up our minds what to order -- no easy feat when being confronted with every food you love -- Lejen kept suggesting other dishes that we just had to taste. We were four people in all, having been joined by friends of the Shanen's from a prominent Beijing newspaper. Enough food for 10 was ordered, and while we waited for it to arrive, I asked Lejen to tell me about herself and her journey to "Bagels in Beijing." Suddenly two beautiful servings of pastel crudités with the most stunning tahina I have ever tasted was placed before us. Now, you must remember, I have lived in Israel for 35 years and have also traveled extensively, including several Arab countries, but I have never tasted anything as fresh and perfect as this. Also, our drinks arrived -- perfectly made iced tea with a small beaker of sweetened lemon. I was already in heaven. This paved the way for a wonderful story completing a full circle of Bagels and Culture.
(You can order bagels and lox, a tasty tradition in the delis of America...and now in Beijing) Lejen's life is literally punctuated by bagels. Her parents are the children of Chinese emigrés who fled to Taiwan. They met in Taiwan, married there, and Lejen was born there. When she was eight, the family emigrated to the United States, where her father studied accounting and later computer science and her mother became a dressmaker in New York's Chinatown because of the language barrier. Eventually, her mother ran her own clothing factory, and Lejen had dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Her parents had other plans, however. They wanted her to become a doctor. These plans were abruptly dashed when it became apparent early in her studies that Lejen could not stand the sight of blood. The family settled in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, a thoroughly middle-class neighborhood, where they were one of four Chinese families. Bagels were brought home daily because they were freshly baked and tasty. The family was not aware of the cultural history of bagels. They just liked them and ate them with butter and sometimes jam. Bagels became a daily part of Lejen's childhood. When Lejen enrolled in Stuyvesant High School, she was dazzled by its multi-ethnicity, being part of a multitude of people who could express their culture and learn from one another. This began what she terms the happiest years of her young life. She was no longer different. She found herself and began to soar. She also discovered that bagels went with lox and cream cheese and so began another chapter in her life. Tufts University followed, where she was an English major. She stayed in the Boston area after graduation, working for Boston Neighborhood Network TV and was part of a team that made a documentary on bagels. Her connections to bagels were now firmly cemented. They kept popping up in her life, and she kept eating them and loving them. She experimented in making mini-bagels while in Taiwan studying Chinese. They were a gastronomic success. In 1989 Lejen arrived in Beijing as part of the US-China Friendship Association to attend an International Kite Festival. She met Western journalists and decided to stay here working as a freelancer on various film productions. It was while working on a film in Guillin in 1996 that the decisive bagel experience occurred. Staying at the Holiday Inn, she looked at the menu and ordered a bagel, lox and cream cheese. What arrived at the table was, indeed, fine smoked salmon with elegant cream cheese on a toasted hamburger roll, which had had the center cut out to form a hole! At about the same time, Shan En had tasted a two-day-old cinnamon raisin bagel, which Lejen had brought in, and he loved it. Shan En became her husband, and bagels became part of Beijing cuisine. Lejen Chen started her bagel business in 1996 by testing recipes and experimenting with friends and the American Embassy people, who already knew what a bagel was. Delivery was by bicycle -- and the bakery was actually a friend's kitchen. July 1996 saw the opening of the bagel factory, and the first commercial delivery was for the July 4th celebration at the US Embassy. If the bagels were a success at the party, Lejen knew she had a chance. They took off royally, and she has been known as Mrs. Shanen the Bagel Lady ever since. She started with seven flavors (plain, whole wheat, sesame, everything, onion, garlic, cinnamon raisin), but additional flavors and new products have been added, including cream cheese and smoked salmon spread. Lejen experiments to no end with every recipe.
(Chicken matzo ball soup is another favorite at Lejen's Beijing restaurant) Everything is homemade, and no preservatives or colorings or MSG are allowed into her foods. Lejen grows her own salad greens and has special contacts for fresh white sesame for the tahina, garbanzo beans for the humus and blueberries for the muffins, which can be put into pancakes, too. Ethnic specialties like pita, falafel, and chicken matzo ball soup and afternoon tea as well as cakes, cookies, and breads have been incorporated into the menu. Lejen also sells directly to many supermarkets, specialty stores and hotels. Catering is also a part of the story. In February, 2004 Lejen opened her restaurant and with it the gallery, clothing shop and tailor shop. This happened after many years of working directly from the bakery site, where there were two little tables, and all was done on a take-out basis. The tailor shop actually is the only part of this complex that is not solely Lejen's own business, being run by the tailor himself. All of her dreams came together. What do bagels mean to Lejen? Comfort, home….part of her life cycle…..ritual…great taste and aroma. Does the public agree with her? Well, they certainly buy her bagels…and her cakes…and her breads…. and her pizza….and, well, everything she produces. If I lived in Beijing on a permanent basis, I would certainly be one of her best customers. I would also love to be her friend.
(If Shalhevet lived in Beijing, she would be a regular customer, indeed) Like Lejen, I spend my free time reading cookbooks and magazines and "playing in the kitchen." The most popular sandwich in the restaurant is the bagel-lox-and-cream-cheese, and her customers love the idea of being able to eat the foods they miss from home. And so the food arrived at the table. I will not critique the food. The empty plates at the end of the meal and the smiles on our faces will attest to how good it was. We had the chicken matzo ball soup, which Yosi pronounced the best he has ever had, carrot-potato soup for us vegetarians, which was dreamlike, a variety of sandwiches, including the very popular chicken-cheddar-lox-bagel-and-cream-cheese, of course, and bagel, falafel and tahina with hot chili sauce that I nicknamed the United Nations, grilled vegetable and cheese sandwiches, an assortment of cakes and cookies, fresh seasonal apple cider, and fantastic coffee.
("There goes my diet," says Shalhevet, as she digs into a sandwich she has nicknamed the "United Nations" -- Photo by Yosi Shalhevet) Lejen had also proposed a pizza to taste, but we were too full to even lift our arms to eat any and made do with watching the look of joy on other customers, who were devouring a variety of pizzas that were works of art. So what do we say to the perky and enchanting Chinese woman who grew up in Brooklyn incorporating the multitude of ethnic foods and culture of the area into her life and then emigrated to China to work, marry, have a child and build a bagel empire? You have, indeed, come full circle -- just like a bagel. Mazal Tov, Lejen Chen! Mrs.
Shannen's, (Click below for more travel).
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