Eggs Head: Pioneer Paul of American Steak and Eggs
Chef Paul Astephen’s Steak and Eggs franchise of North American-style diners has been a Beijing institution since 2003. Having recently reopened the original Jianguomen branch after an extensive renovation, Paul found the time to sit down with Agenda to share his thoughts on his core business values, and how Harley riders in Daytona helped christen his restaurant.
You just reopened the Jianguo-men location of Steak and Eggs after doing renovations. What’s new with the restaurant?
Almost everything is new, except the floor. The walls have been changed. We’ve opened it all up. We made it more airy, gave it new windows to let more sunlight in.
This restaurant is now seven years old and it needed fixing up. It was getting run down. We went through seven years of very strong business. I actually cut down the size of restaurant to be quainter and we gave the other side of our restaurant to a Japanese place.
What is the concept behind Steak and Eggs?
More or less a Ma and Pa restaurant. Steak and Eggs originated in Daytona Florida. It was a Ma and Pa diner there where we served up the exact same food as I serve here.
How did the name Steak and Eggs come about?
It came from Daytona. They have two seasons down there – they have spring break and bike week. Bike week is when a lot of motorcycle people come down. They’re not real hard-nosed bikers. They are doctors, lawyers, driving really expensive Harley Davidson bikes. Two or three weeks before they go, they let their beard grow and they come down and pretend that they’re bikers. And well, one thing they liked to do is have steak and eggs for breakfast. When I was deciding on the name, I thought to myself, “Well, I want these bike people to come in,” so I gave it that name and it worked.
Does anyone in Beijing request steak and eggs for breakfast?
Yes, all the time. In fact, it’s the first thing on my menu. It’s always been the first thing on my menu.
Who do you see come in?
I would say 60% are foreigners and the other 40% are Asians. We get a fair amount of young couples. Young Asians like the Western breakfast, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. They’re eating Chinese style. They’ll have four dishes: they might have the chicken grill, the chicken parmesan, Caesar salad, and a breakfast item so they’re sharing all of that, eating it the way they would at home.
How did you make the transition to Beijing?
Yang Yang was with me in Daytona. Yang Yang is my girlfriend; we’ve been together for 11 years. We sold the restaurant in Daytona and came here for a holiday, then decided to do the same thing here. I’ve been here since March of 2003.
You’ve become a somewhat famous figure on the Beijing food scene.
Yes, it’s kind of funny. I can go anywhere in the city and even outside of Beijing and someone will recognize me. I’ve been at the Bangkok airport and bumped into someone and they say, “What are you doing here?” I’ve been in Singapore and bumped into someone there as well. With a nose like mine, I’m instantly recognizable.
What motivated you to work in restaurants?
When I was a young boy, my mother was a pastry chef and she’d bake fresh bread. We’re talking back in the late ‘50s. In those days, there wasn’t a corner store you could pick bread up at everyday, so my mom used to bake it. But she took ill when I was probably around 12 years old and her not being able to walk forced me to take the lead helping my mother do these things. And then I fell in love with cooking.
I joined the army when I was 17 and that’s what I did, I cooked. And then I came out of the army, I started cooking in restaurants and hotels. And so I’ve been doing it all my life. I’ve been in the restaurant business for 44 years – a long time.
What’s different about the way you run your business?
We’ve built up a very strong reputation. I believe in using the best products I can find. I don’t use low end product, even when it comes to vegetables. This past winter has been murder on me because I only use high-end vegetables and the prices were extremely high. My philosophy is this: If you start with a good product, you end with a good product. It’s pretty hard to start with a bad product and end up with a good product. I personally see to it myself for Excel Bistro. I go to the market on Saturdays and purchase the meat for the week to make sure it’s up to my standard. And I’m constantly there to make sure that its being put out properly.
I hope to open another restaurant this year. I’m not sure if it’s going to be Continental, Asian or Western yet.
How do you divide up your time between all your restaurants?
I’m at Jianguomen Steak and Eggs during the evenings; at Excel Bistro, Monday to Friday for breakfast and lunch. I’m actually in the kitchen in the mornings there with the Chinese staff making baozi and helping them do everything. I love it. That’s me. I’m a chef by trade. And now I’m learning Chinese cooking. Step by step, I’m learning.
How has Beijing’s restaurant scene evolved over the years?
It’s changed a lot. When I first opened, there was hardly anybody around doing Western food, of real authentic Western food. The apple pie here is an apple pie here you would get in the United States or Canada. I was a pioneer of Western restaurant food in Beijing.
One thing that all your restaurants have in common is that they seem to maintain a relatively low price point. How important is that to your business?
My father was in the grocery business and he had a philosophy: sell for little, sell a lot. People perceive value. They want value for their dollar. There are a lot of high-end restaurants in Beijing this past year that have gone out of business because people don’t want to pay anymore. There are still a lot of high-end restaurants doing very well, but a lot have gone under. With expensive places, you can pay through the nose and you can still not be satisfied when you leave. You can go to a place that has very nice surroundings, the best, but you can’t eat decorations. That doesn’t give you total satisfaction. Food does.
American Steak and Eggs
Daily 7am-midnight. Xiushui Nanjie, Jianguomenwai (directly north of the Friendship Store, one traffic light west of Silk Market), Chaoyang District. (6592 8088/8788) www.steakeggs.com.cn 朝阳区建国门外秀水南街(友谊商店北面, 秀水西边第一个红绿灯)
Excel Bistro
Mon-Fri 6.30am-8pm, Sat-Sun 8am-8pm. B1/F, Zhuozhu Dalou, 6 Wudinghou Jie, Jinrong Jie, Xicheng District. (6629 0006/0008) 西城区金融街武定侯街6号卓著大楼