It took 10 years for Gigi Wu's dream to come true for opening her own restaurant G&Y Bakery Cafe

(SAN FRANCISCO) Gigi Wu, an immigrant from China, has dreamed of starting her own restaurant for ten years. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has not discouraged her. Instead she made up her mind at the beginning of the pandemic to pursue her dream and is always optimistic for the future.

Her dream finally came true last weekend. G&Y Bakery Cafe on Clay Street began to open for business on March 19 and became the first brand new Chinese restaurant in San Francisco Chinatown in two years since the pandemic. Lion dances were performed in front of the restaurant celebrating its grand opening.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit hard at businesses worldwide. The restaurants and businesses in San Francisco Chinatown have been hit even harder than other commercial corridors in the City. Since then, a number of the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown were closed, while some restaurants were taken over by new owners.

But G&Y Bakery Restaurant, a Hong Kong Cafe style restaurant, opened for business last Saturday in a location which was a grocery store for years and shut down when the pandemic just began in early 2020. Wu viewed the empty store as an opportunity and a first step for her to have her dream come true.

Wu was a waitress working in different Hong Kong Cafe style restaurants in Chinatown since 2008 after she immigrated to San Francisco. "As new immigrants coming to the United States, there are not many choices for us to look for jobs. For men, many of them become construction workers, like my husband. For women, we would be working in Chinese restaurants or garment shops," Wu said in the interview at her new restaurant.

Wu used to work in the trading business in China. She started working as a waitress when she came to the country in 2008. It has been 14 years, but Wu has never planned to leave the Chinese restaurant business. On the contrary, Wu fell in love with the Hong Kong Cafe style restaurants where she has worked for over a decade and dreamed of her own restaurant ten years ago.

In early 2020, once the pandemic began to emerge, the previous owners at 881 Clay Street decided to close their grocery store. Wu immediately approached Pius Lee, landlord of the building and President of the California Realty & Land Inc., for taking over the lease.

"Even though the store is small for a restaurant, I like the location which is right at the corner of Clay and Stockton Streets, also one of the busiest intersections in Chinatown. It is exactly the right location for my dream restaurant," said Wu.

No one expected the COVID-19 pandemic to have lasted that long for over two years as of now. Many people would hesitate to make investments or open stores. Wu has never doubted the pandemic would last forever. "I truly believe the pandemic will go away someday and the future will be good," said Wu. "As long as we are in the right location with good quality of food to serve the customers, I am optimistic on my business."

Wu has not given up on starting her own restaurant during the peak of the pandemic in 2020. She needed to submit a large number of papers to apply for various permits for a brand new restaurant. It took over two years for Wu to open G&Y Bakery Cafe, including the time for the renovation of the store.

G&Y is a Hong Kong Cafe style restaurant. The food that serves is very unique among different Chinese cuisines. The Hong Kong style cafe originated and is very popular in Hong Kong. They serve all day round from morning breakfasts to dinners at night with fast food, drinks and bakery.

"I call the food served by the Hong Kong Cafe style restaurant 'fusion food' which combines the best of the Chinese and Western food. We have a lot of great food to serve our customers. I desire to promote the fusion Chinese food to a bigger community in the U.S. This is my ultimate goal to start my own restaurant," Wu was excited to introduce her specialty food and drinks at her G&Y Bakery Cafe.

During her 14-year experience serving in other restaurants as a waitress, she learned on the job to make the popular boba milk tea and various drinks. "The boba drinks also represent the culture for younger generations nowadays. I enjoy trying out to make more tasteful drinks to meet the needs of the young customers. They can find the drinks they like in my restaurant," said Wu.

Restaurants are considered as relatively higher cost small businesses. "I am very grateful for all the support from my families, friends, and customers of my formerly worked restaurants. That is how I could fulfill my dream. Some of my relatives have financially supported me," said Wu.

Landlord Pius Lee also a supporter

Landlord Pius Lee is one of Wu's supporters. Lee provided rent relief to Wu during the renovations. "I wanted her to be successful. I have encouraged her to open her own restaurant," said Lee.

"We need more businesses in Chinatown to bring in more customers for the entire Chinatown. When she succeeds, more customers will come to Chinatown. The customers will enjoy the great food, the whole Chinatown will be benefited. She is able to pay for the rent," Lee said with a laugh.