Business Spotlight: Tonii’s Fresh Rice Noodle
Liz Yee, owner of Tonii’s Fresh Rice Noodle, a grant recipient of The Longevity Fund, started the restaurant in October 2019 out of love for her family and her children. As the name suggests, Tonii’s serves fresh rice rolls with a variety of toppings along with their famous Kam Hing sponge cakes. Read on to learn more about how the name Tonii’s came to be and how Liz hopes to see the business grow over the years.
Tell us about your business and who you are! How long have you been open? What kind of food do you serve? What inspired you to start your restaurant?
Hey! I’m Liz, and I am the owner of Tonii’s Fresh Rice Noodle located at 83 Bayard St. in Chinatown, New York. We’ve been open since October 2019, so about a year now. Our business is a branch of our mother shop, New Kam Hing, located at 118 Baxter St., which is also owned by my family. At Tonii’s, we serve our famous Kam Hing sponge cakes and our fresh assorted topping rice rolls (also known as rice noodles).
My family is what inspired me to open Tonii’s. Growing up with my siblings, we always had New Kam Hing as our home base. I would hang out there with my friends after school, and I would work there on the weekends with my brother. We would have family BBQs and holiday parties there as well. Having the store play such a central role in my life when I was growing up made me realize that if I opened a shop of my own, my kids would have a chance to make the same childhood memories I have. Thus, I opened Tonii’s for my kids’ future— so that I could give my kids a home base and, to let them know that no matter what happens, their family is right there.
How have you been faring with the impact of COVID? What are some things that you have been doing to stay open?
We have been doing okay. Most of my staff quit at the beginning of March, so overhead hasn’t been that high since it was mainly just my husband and brother working with me at the time. We did everything in-house, meaning my dad would cut and prep vegetables and meat, and my brother would cook the curry, beef tripe, tea eggs, etc. My husband and I would alternate shifts with our remaining workers to serve customers and make rice noodles and sponge cakes. Between the three of us (my husband, brother and myself), we were at the store every day from 7am - 10pm. In order to increase the flow of business, we extended our open hours and tried to introduce new food options, such as fried rice (we no longer serve fried rice; that was just a temporary thing that we did during the pandemic).
How have you been faring with the impact of COVID? What are some things that you have been doing to stay open?
We have been doing okay. Most of my staff quit at the beginning of March, so overhead hasn’t been that high since it was mainly just my husband and brother working with me at the time. We did everything in-house, meaning my dad would cut and prep vegetables and meat, and my brother would cook the curry, beef tripe, tea eggs, etc. My husband and I would alternate shifts with our remaining workers to serve customers and make rice noodles and sponge cakes. Between the three of us (my husband, brother and myself), we were at the store every day from 7am - 10pm. In order to increase the flow of business, we extended our open hours and tried to introduce new food options, such as fried rice (we no longer serve fried rice; that was just a temporary thing that we did during the pandemic).
We have been doing okay. Most of my staff quit at the beginning of March, so overhead hasn’t been that high since it was mainly just my husband and brother working with me at the time. We did everything in-house, meaning my dad would cut and prep vegetables and meat, and my brother would cook the curry, beef tripe, tea eggs, etc. My husband and I would alternate shifts with our remaining workers to serve customers and make rice noodles and sponge cakes. Between the three of us (my husband, brother and myself), we were at the store every day from 7am - 10pm. In order to increase the flow of business, we extended our open hours and tried to introduce new food options, such as fried rice (we no longer serve fried rice; that was just a temporary thing that we did during the pandemic).
During COVID, we also had the chance to work with Vic and Jen from Welcome to Chinatown to help frontline workers through their Feed Our Heroes initiative, and more recently, by partnering with Feed the Frontlines. The initiative was able to help us get our name out there and brought us some new business. As a result, we were able to keep the remaining staff that we had, and we began to believe that we could overcome this slump.
What are some of your favorite dishes to make from your menu? What were your inspirations behind these dishes?
My favorite dish would have to be the rice roll, of course! It was definitely fun learning how to make it in the beginning, and it was exciting to see all the different choices of toppings.
I also really love our spammiches (spam & egg sandwiches) because they remind me of when my parents used to make them for me and my siblings. Separately, my father loves corn beef— hence why we have the corn beef and egg sandwich on our menu.
What is one fun fact or something interesting that most people don’t know about Tonii’s?
What most people don’t know is that Tonii’s is named after my daughter; who is named after her uncle (my brother), Tony. Tony passed away in a fire with his girlfriend, Anna, in February 2009. The two i’s in Tonii resemble people figures and are supposed to represent Tony and Anna. I wanted to pay my respects to Tony because he was like a second father figure to me; he was always there for me and my siblings, and he was also always there for my parents. He was a chef, and he had this way with food such that, when you saw him cooking, you could see his passion and see how much time he spent trying to perfect his recipes. By memorializing his legacy in the name “Tonii’s”, I want my kids to know who Tony was, how important he was to our family and how much my siblings and I still try to follow in his footsteps every day.
Tony was the embodiment of family. He taught us that family is everything and that your family will always stand by you. Having Tonii’s as the name of the store gives me the strength to keep it going for my kids’ futures and for Tony himself. Hopefully, he’s watching over the store and looking out for us up there.
Photo by Kevin Xiao
How can people support your business?
Come to Chinatown and shop in our shops! Spread the word that Chinatown is coming back to life and help bring hope to other Chinatown businesses.
Anything else you would like people to know or talk about?
For me, Chinatown is home. I will do all that I can during this time to keep Tonii’s going. I want to be able to come to Tonii’s with grandkids of my own 30 years down the line. I want everyone to know that Tonii’s is here to stay. Tonii’s is about family and, by walking through the doors of Tonii’s, you are considered family to me.
To learn more about Tonii’s history and story, visit HangryAlice.com, for the full interview.
Chinatown establishments like Tonii’s are what makes the spirit of our neighborhood. We need your support now more than ever before to keep that spirit alive. Please consider making a donation to our small business relief fund, The Longevity Fund, or help us spread the word of what’s at stake. Together, we can preserve Chinatown businesses and help say Chinatown will always be open for business.
During COVID, we also had the chance to work with Vic and Jen from Welcome to Chinatown to help frontline workers through their Feed Our Heroes initiative, and more recently, by partnering with Feed the Frontlines. The initiative was able to help us get our name out there and brought us some new business. As a result, we were able to keep the remaining staff that we had, and we began to believe that we could overcome this slump.
What are some of your favorite dishes to make from your menu? What were your inspirations behind these dishes?
My favorite dish would have to be the rice roll, of course! It was definitely fun learning how to make it in the beginning, and it was exciting to see all the different choices of toppings.
I also really love our spammiches (spam & egg sandwiches) because they remind me of when my parents used to make them for me and my siblings. Separately, my father loves corn beef— hence why we have the corn beef and egg sandwich on our menu.
What is one fun fact or something interesting that most people don’t know about Tonii’s?
What most people don’t know is that Tonii’s is named after my daughter; who is named after her uncle (my brother), Tony. Tony passed away in a fire with his girlfriend, Anna, in February 2009. The two i’s in Tonii resemble people figures and are supposed to represent Tony and Anna. I wanted to pay my respects to Tony because he was like a second father figure to me; he was always there for me and my siblings, and he was also always there for my parents. He was a chef, and he had this way with food such that, when you saw him cooking, you could see his passion and see how much time he spent trying to perfect his recipes. By memorializing his legacy in the name “Tonii’s”, I want my kids to know who Tony was, how important he was to our family and how much my siblings and I still try to follow in his footsteps every day.
Tony was the embodiment of family. He taught us that family is everything and that your family will always stand by you. Having Tonii’s as the name of the store gives me the strength to keep it going for my kids’ futures and for Tony himself. Hopefully, he’s watching over the store and looking out for us up there.
How can people support your business?
Come to Chinatown and shop in our shops! Spread the word that Chinatown is coming back to life and help bring hope to other Chinatown businesses.
Anything else you would like people to know or talk about?
For me, Chinatown is home. I will do all that I can during this time to keep Tonii’s going. I want to be able to come to Tonii’s with grandkids of my own 30 years down the line. I want everyone to know that Tonii’s is here to stay. Tonii’s is about family and, by walking through the doors of Tonii’s, you are considered family to me.
Kam Hing Coffee Shop is also now back open! Give them a visit for coffee and a sponge cake at 118 Baxter Street.
To learn more about Tonii’s history and story, visit HangryAlice.com, for the full interview.
Chinatown establishments like Tonii’s are what makes the spirit of our neighborhood. We need your support now more than ever before to keep that spirit alive. Please consider making a donation to our small business relief fund, The Longevity Fund, or help us spread the word of what’s at stake. Together, we can preserve Chinatown businesses and help say Chinatown will always be open for business.
