Cheung introduced gourmet coffee and ice cream to Wonder Bakery in 2003, and it has attracted many new customers to his bakery, Cheung said.
"Fusion style food may be good for businesses, but when I come to Chinatown, I would want to try the traditional Chinese food. Try something new, try something I have never seen before," said Ulysses Dominguez, who was visiting Chinatown from Arizona.
Dominguez and his family came in town to watch a soccer game between Team U.S.A. and Team Mexico. And because there isn’t a Chinatown where he is from, his dad decided to spend their down time in Los Angeles in Chinatown, so they can try some Chinese food, especially the ones they have never seen nor heard before. They tried some Chinese sweetheart cakes during their visit to Chinatown this time.
Food in Chinatown has been going through rapid changes in the past 10 years because of people’s migration patterns and gentrification, said Chris Cheung, manager of Wonder Bakery.
Unlike 10 years ago when most customers are Chinese, there are much more tourists, Hispanic, and White customers today, he said.
He believes it is important for businesses in Chinatown to introduce new products in order to accommodate the new customer base in this part of town.
Cheung believes it is especially true for bakeries in Chinatown to do so, because many bakeries outside of Chinatown, like the ones in Arcadia, Alhambra, and San Gabriel, are modernizing and adjusting their menus to attract larger customer base.
“As human beings, we like to try new things,” Cheung said. “It is just like we would wear one shirt today, and tomorrow we wear another shirt because we want to try new things. That is why we are constantly creating and experimenting with new products to offer to our customers.”
Although serving older generation, which accounts for a small percentage of the bakery’s customer base, is as important as serving new customers, Cheung believes offering a good balance of a variety of products is important for the Chinese culture in Los Angeles.
“This will allow us to continue to do what we do and pass on the traditional Chinese culture through the authentic Chinese food we are able to preserve, and serve to our customers who may or may not be familiar with Chinese food,” Cheung said.
He adopted the new business strategy 5 years ago. The bakery now offers drinks like Cantonese yuan yang, and American coffee. For desserts, they have traditional Chinese moon and sweetheart cakes, and customized birthday and wedding cakes.
But one thing that he has not changed about his business is the way they prepare traditional Chinese items, like B.B.Q. pork buns, sponge cakes and egg tarts. He wants it to remain the way it was prepared, 40 years ago.
Even though many bakeries in Chinatown are modernizing and “Americanizing,” Kelly Wu, who took over Fun On Bakery from the owner who retired 3 years ago, said its menu has not changed from the one they had 30 years ago.
“I and my son insist that we only sell traditional Chinese items that the bakery has been selling many years before we took over the store,” Wu said.
She said the closest they got to modernizing is changing packages they display items in, and decreasing sugar and oil usage so that their desserts are healthier.
Even though its customer base has become more diverse because of tourists and changing migration patterns in the area, Wu believes it is still important to continue to stick to the traditional ways of making desserts.
“Food is an essential part of culture,” Wu said. “We need to stick to the traditional way, including hand make everything from scratch and not use preservatives, wake up at 6 a.m. to prepare ingredients, and not introduce new Americanized items, so the Chinese culture does not die out.”
Wu has been importing moon cake display boxes and other materials for the bakery kitchen from Taiwan.
Not only because the patterns and words on the boxes explain so much about the Chinese culture, but also to continue to support products that were made in her home country, she said.
She also hopes the quality of materials will help Taiwan’s product make a good impression in front of people who may not be familiar with the country but are exposed to it when they purchase things from the bakery.
Fun On Bakery’s mission to use food to spread the word about Chinese and Taiwanese culture is the kind of bakery Dominguez wishes to see more in Chinatown.
As Dominguez enjoys the Chinese sweetheart cake he bought from Wonder Bakery, he said he believes many customers like him would hope more Chinese restaurants and bakeries in Chinatown can continue to sell authentic Chinese food.
“Food is so close to culture,” Dominguez said. “I want to continue to learn about different cultures while I am on my food hunt adventures.”
