Business Spotlight: Noodle Village
Rosie and Steve Li, owners of Noodle Village
Noodle Village
13 Mott St
(212) 233-0788
We’re excited to spotlight Longevity Fund grant recipient Noodle Village! Noodle Village is a family-owned Hong Kong-style eatery run by Rosie and Steve Li and their business partner George (not pictured). Noodle Village has been serving Cantonese noodle dishes, soup dumplings & congee. The restaurant is known for its delicious xiao long bao soup dumplings. A big thank you to National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE) for making this Longevity Fund grant possible.
Blog by Enoch Kim, Photos by Jordan Ji
Opening the door to Noodle Village was like a passageway into another world outside of the bustling Mott Street. The inside of Noodle Village was covered in a gooey, orange light. As I listened, I became aware of the lively chatter and the busy clinking of plates creating a symphony of voices that could only be home to a restaurant. As I approached the man at the counter, the waving of a hand in the back of the room caught the corner of my eye. As I looked closer, I noticed an older couple sitting at a table, and a familiar face: Jordan, our photographer.
I had been communicating with Rosie and Steve Li a couple of weeks prior. They were recent recipients of our Longevity Fund, Welcome to Chinatown’s grant assistance program for AAPI small businesses in Chinatown. At first, there seemed to be a nervous tension in the air, as most of us were strangers meeting for the first time. As abruptly as the nervous aura began to spread, it was broken with a menu being slid my way. An invitation I gladly accepted, ordering a milk tea. Thus began the interview.
Tell me about yourselves and your business!
“My name is Rosita Li. I’m working at the Noodle Village.”
Which one of your dishes is your personal favorite, and why?
“[One of the] Popular dishes is the soup dumpling. I like it because it has flavor and it’s very juicy inside. Also, the other thing is the wonton noodle soup. It’s a very Hong Kong traditional style. Also, hot pot rice. It’s very spicy. It’s crispy and firm. Yes. There are a lot of flavors in the rice.”
Rosita described things with a certain candidness: it made her words come out with authority and grace. I leaned in to ask her the next question.
How are you planning to use the Longevity Fund grant?
“Because the restaurant is old, it needs to be repaired. And it needs new equipment, and also, the furniture needs to be repaired.”
How did COVID impact your business?
“It was terrible. The whole thing was shut down, it’s very quiet. And most of the landlords, they increase the rent. Everything is getting expensive, so it was very tough to keep on running the restaurant.”
There was a graveness on her face that showed pain and loss.
How did you recover from that?
“We had no choice. We had to work harder, and everybody came forward and was very helpful. They would stay here and do all of the tasks. Just, everyone in the business came together.”
I began to understand: Chinatown small business owners exemplified the work ethic that was so deeply ingrained in the immigrant mentality. Rosita and Steve survived difficult times by working harder, despite the challenges that they faced. Their stoicism and determination were what kept the place open through the storms that had battered it over the last couple of years, which was reflected in the weathered walls of the building
You just said that everyone came together during that difficult time. So, it seems like you’re almost involved in a community here in Chinatown. Can you tell me about your community, and what it means to you?
“No, no, no. [When] I talk, I said the employees, they are helping us run the restaurant.”
That distinction made me pause for a second. It seemed to me that there still remained some individuality of Noodle Village within the community support. The staff of Noodle Village became strong by relying on themselves: they needed each other, so they became a community that became as powerful as a family. That much was evident, as I started to realize that the entire staff was wearing Noodle Village shirts in matching black and white.
After all of that busy interviewing, I realized that my throat was parched. I saw that the staff had placed my milk tea order from earlier on the table. I reached over and asked, “Do you mind if I take this?”
“Yes!”, she said enthusiastically.
I hastily gulped half of it down immediately, comforted by the smooth, milky sweetness of the beverage.
Why did you start the business?
At this point, Rosie responded in a flurry of Mandarin to Jordan, who responded, “They don’t have a history of coming from business backgrounds: they figured it out on the way.”
Jordan Continued:
“We started the business of ideas, my husband’s idea. So, you see, at that time, when we opened the restaurant, we looked for traditional Hong Kong style, because we wanted wonton noodles. We started opening the restaurant because there was no traditional Hong Kong-style food in Chinatown, and we wanted wonton noodles. So, we hire a professional chef from Hong Kong, and we teach the kitchen how to make the wonton, and try to make good Hong Kong-style food.”
So follow-up question to that, you mentioned that you’re both from Hong Kong. Tell me a little bit about your immigration process, and what it was like coming to a new country to start a new business.
“We were living upstate, so we did not come to Chinatown a lot. We knew nothing about running a restaurant, so we worked very hard and it’s hard to make everything good, and hard to open this good restaurant.”
“So, we want to open the business. It’s trial, error. Trial, error. Over and over again.”
Rosie spoke about the trials and errors with a tired tone. I wondered just how much determination and resilience must they have had in the past, running this restaurant with no experience, like they had. No wonder they managed to survive and stay as a staple of Mott Street, the beating heart of Chinatown cuisine.
How long have you been in business?
14 years.
Oh, so quite a long time. I’m guessing you’ve seen a lot in your time hear. So, what’s the most interesting story from your time here?
“In the beginning, we didn't have the business. When we see the elderly people, we let them stand and come into the restaurant. So we made wonton noodle soup for the elders. We tried to give back only to the eldest people.”
This marked the end of our interview. After it was all over, we stayed and chatted for a little bit, still bathed under the same dim orange light. Sometime throughout, the staff brought us the delicacies that they had described earlier: soup dumplings, dumpling soup, and hot pot rice. As we sat at that table and said our goodbyes, I remained alone at the table to finish my meal. It tasted like home.
Special Thanks to Jordan Ji for helping translate parts of this piece. Without her, this spotlight would not have been possible.
Chinatown establishments like Noodle Village are what makes the spirit of our neighborhood. We need your support now more than ever to keep that spirit alive. Together, we can preserve Chinatown businesses and ensure Chinatown will always be open for business. To support Chinatown organizations like Noodle Village, donate to the Longevity Fund here:
Photo credit: Jordan Ji
