See ways to celebrate Chinese New Year in NYC “Now before 10, we have to think of what restaurants are still open. Back before COVID, so many spots would be open till 1 in the morning,” Lee said. And at Nyonya, you can’t get a Tiger beer for the Year of the Tiger as the popular brew from Singapore has not been delivered for the last nine months. Unwilling to raise their menu prices, Mui said he’s had to improvise instead - he won’t offer lobster when his costs are high or will pause on certain items if they faced any shortages. Yuen Seng Liew is a waiter at Nyonya restaurant on Grand St. Sometimes we order 20 cases of tofu, we’re only able to get five cases. “A can of oil, 25 pounds, used to cost $26. Supply chain issues have exacerbated the problems, Hop Lee’s Mui added. Hop Lee, whose specialty is steamed lobster, has had to slash its staff numbers by half and cut its hours by closing on weeknights and Sundays. “Some of this is due to anti-Asian hate - business owners are concerned about safety and opt to close earlier.” “Our Chinatown: State of Neighborhood Small Businesses Survey found that 83% of respondents reduced business hours,” Welcome to Chinatown’s founder Vic Lee said. In May 2021, a 55-year-old Asian woman was punched in the face as she walked along Bayard St., while in April, a woman slapped a 25-year-old Chinese woman for no reason. The rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in the city has also led to fewer elderly Chinese folk leaving their homes, said restaurant owners, who noted that it’s mostly younger people dining out now. Vic Lee, co-founder of Welcome to Chinatown nonprofit organization. “Now all the offices are closed, people think the subway isn’t safe, everyone is working from home and they are cooking at home,” Lim explained. eatery, famous for its roti canai, an Indian Muslim-influenced flatbread, saw only one walk-in customer during lunch, when the 132-seater restaurant would usually be packed to the gills. “People call us to make reservations, we tell them no need for reservations, just come. Some nights we didn’t get a single customer,” he told The News in Cantonese.īusiness at Malaysian restaurant Nyonya has fallen 60% compared to 2019, owner Cindy Lim said. The last month, we didn’t even get a single phone call. “When omicron hit, oh goodness, business fell to 30%. Johnny Mui, owner of Hop Lee Kitchen on Mott St., is worried. Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.“The struggle for these merchants,” said Chen, “is that they are getting far fewer customers and their costs have risen dramatically.”Ī survey of 35 business owners in 2021 by Welcome to Chinatown - a nonprofit organization founded in 2021 to address the needs of the community and the many non-English-speaking entrepreneurs – found that 85% saw their business decline by more than half, while 71% said they were unable to pay their rent in full. But these days dim sum is also an all-day affair in smaller fast-casual establishments that have appeared all over town, as this map demonstrates. The best dim sum spots in town also don’t break the bank as diners enjoy the little heartwarming morsels even the humblest budget can afford. Competition between dim sum parlors has resulted in innovation, so a visit to the most popular spots means there’s often something new on the menu (or rolling by on a roving cart).ĭim sum is also conducive for group dining during holidays like Lunar New Year from January 22 through February 5, especially at those with banquet halls, where it’s not uncommon to find three or even four generations of families seated at big round tables. After all, there’s something for everyone in this collection of delicate dumplings, braised chicken feet, sweet fresh tofu, rice noodle rolls, fluffy steamed bao, tiny custard pies, and other small dishes - many requiring extraordinary skill to make. New Yorkers and tourists alike often find themselves in one of NYC’s Chinatowns in search of dim sum.
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